Revisiting Patent Generation in U.S. Metropolitan Areas: 1990–2015

This paper re-examines the shifting pattern of (utility) patents across the American metropolitan landscape during the recent period 1990–2015. Patent volumes and densities (per capita volumes) are both analyzed at five-year intervals. All results reflect a reconstituted data base that addresses the demographic, economic, and geographic conditions prevailing among the nation’s n = 377 metropolitan areas. Standard multivariate analysis is used to distill nearly twenty input variables down to six orthogonal factors. Using the underlying factor scores, performance scores for patenting are calculated across the metropolitan areas at regular points in time. When assembled in order, these cross-sectional scores trace out the performance trends of the various metropolitan economies over the 25-year study period. Linear regression procedures, adjusted for spatial dependency, indicate that two factors—human capital and human-created amenities—have become increasingly important determinants of patenting activity across U.S. metropolitan areas during recent times. A few straightforward policy prescriptions follow from the analysis.