Citation

Discussion Paper Details

Please find the details for DP8537 in an easy to copy and paste format below:

Full Details   |   Bibliographic Reference

Full Details

Title: Education and Invention

Author(s): Otto Toivanen and Lotta Väänänen

Publication Date: August 2011

Keyword(s): ability bias, citations, education, engineers, growth, innovation, invention, inventors and patents

Programme Area(s): Industrial Organization

Abstract: Modern growth theory puts invention on the center stage. Inventions are created by individuals, raising the question: can we increase number of inventors? To answer this question, we study the causal effect of M.Sc. engineering education on invention, using data on U.S. patents? Finnish inventors and the distance to the nearest technical university as an instrument. We find a positive effect of engineering education on the propensity to patent, and a negative OLS bias. Our counterfactual calculation suggests that establishing 3 new technical universities resulted in a 20% increase in the number of USPTO patents by Finnish inventors.

For full details and related downloads, please visit: https://cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=8537

Bibliographic Reference

Toivanen, O and Väänänen, L. 2011. 'Education and Invention'. London, Centre for Economic Policy Research. https://cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=8537