Arbeitspapier
The direction of technical change in AI and the trajectory effects of government funding
Government funding of innovation can have a significant impact not only on the rate of technical change, but also on its direction. In this paper, we examine the role that government grants and government departments played in the development of artificial intelligence (AI), an emergent general purpose technology with the potential to revolutionize many aspects of the economy and society. We analyze all AI patents filed at the US Patent and Trademark Office and develop network measures that capture each patent's influence on all possible sequences of follow-on innovation. By identifying the effect of patents on technological trajectories, we are able to account for the long-term cumulative impact of new knowledge that is not captured by standard patent citation measures. We show that patents funded by government grants, but above all patents filed by federal agencies and state departments, profoundly influenced the development of AI. These long-term effects were especially significant in early phases, and weakened over time as private incentives took over. These results are robust to alternative specifications and controlling for endogeneity.
- Language
-
Englisch
- Bibliographic citation
-
Series: LEM Working Paper Series ; No. 2021/41
- Classification
-
Wirtschaft
Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
Technological Change: Government Policy
Network Formation and Analysis: Theory
- Subject
-
R&D
Technical change
Government subsidies
Technology policy
General purpose technology
- Event
-
Geistige Schöpfung
- (who)
-
Iori, Martina
Martinelli, Arianna
Mina, Andrea
- Event
-
Veröffentlichung
- (who)
-
Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM)
- (where)
-
Pisa
- (when)
-
2021
- Handle
- Last update
-
10.03.2025, 11:43 AM CET
Data provider
ZBW - Deutsche Zentralbibliothek für Wirtschaftswissenschaften - Leibniz-Informationszentrum Wirtschaft. If you have any questions about the object, please contact the data provider.
Object type
- Arbeitspapier
Associated
- Iori, Martina
- Martinelli, Arianna
- Mina, Andrea
- Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM)
Time of origin
- 2021
Other Objects (12)
Loopholes and the Incidence of Public Services: Evidence from Funding Career & Technical Education
The (Self-)Funding of Intangibles
The Developmental Trajectory of the Operational Momentum Effect
THE PARABOLIC TRAJECTORY.
Gender Effects in Research Funding : A review of the scientific discussion on the gender-specific aspects of the evaluation of funding proposals and the awarding of funding
The Political Origin of Pension Funding
Commentary : The Developmental Trajectory of the Operational Momentum Effect
The indigenous movement and the economic trajectory of Ecuador
Flexicurity – the German trajectory
Flexicurity – the German trajectory
Response: Commentary: The Developmental Trajectory of the Operational Momentum Effect
The influence of individual differences across the international career trajectory
Loopholes and the Incidence of Public Services: Evidence from Funding Career & Technical Education
The (Self-)Funding of Intangibles
The Developmental Trajectory of the Operational Momentum Effect
THE PARABOLIC TRAJECTORY.
Gender Effects in Research Funding : A review of the scientific discussion on the gender-specific aspects of the evaluation of funding proposals and the awarding of funding
The Political Origin of Pension Funding
Commentary : The Developmental Trajectory of the Operational Momentum Effect
The indigenous movement and the economic trajectory of Ecuador
Flexicurity – the German trajectory
Flexicurity – the German trajectory
Response: Commentary: The Developmental Trajectory of the Operational Momentum Effect
The influence of individual differences across the international career trajectory
Loopholes and the Incidence of Public Services: Evidence from Funding Career & Technical Education
The (Self-)Funding of Intangibles
The Developmental Trajectory of the Operational Momentum Effect
THE PARABOLIC TRAJECTORY.
Gender Effects in Research Funding : A review of the scientific discussion on the gender-specific aspects of the evaluation of funding proposals and the awarding of funding
The Political Origin of Pension Funding
Commentary : The Developmental Trajectory of the Operational Momentum Effect
The indigenous movement and the economic trajectory of Ecuador
Flexicurity – the German trajectory
Flexicurity – the German trajectory
Response: Commentary: The Developmental Trajectory of the Operational Momentum Effect