Nanotechnology and the Emergence of a General Purpose Technology

Abstract:     
This article examines how closely nanotechnologies share some identifiable characteristics with previously-identified General Purpose Technologies [GPT]. Using US patent data from 1975-2006, we test for nanotechnology's "pervasiveness" and for the likelihood that it is spawning follow-on innovation. Introducing several methodological innovations, we employ concentration indices such as the Gini Index and Lorenz curve, and construct a "knowledge dissemination curve" [KDC] for different technologies, thereby offering evidence that nanotechnology shares GPT characteristics with other candidates like information technologies [IT]. We also for the first time use three different definitions of a "nanotechnology patent" and calculate "generality" indices, finding that nanotechnology patents are significantly more general than are IT patents. In a further contribution, we suggest that materials - principally steel - may demonstrate the characteristics of a GPT, and provide a historical parallel between the advancement of steel technology and nanotechnology.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 46

Keywords: Nanotechnology, General Purpose Technologies, Patent Analysis

JEL Classification: O30, O33, O14

working papers series