Manchester Institute of Innovation Research, Dr Francesco Rentocchini

Abstract:

We examine whether government sponsored R&D affects the development of clean technologies with a higher impact on subsequent technological development. The empirical analysis uses information on USPTO patents granted during the 2005-2015. Starting from patents acknowledged in government funding, we build a control group by matching firm level information on Patstat. We combine linear regression and propensity score methods to control for an eventual sorting of riskier projects into public funded projects by firms and for non-random (public) treatment at technology level. We also assess the distributional impact of public procurement. Results show that green patents benefiting from public funding have a significantly larger impact that the other patents developed by the firms in the sample, and that this impact becomes larger along the distribution of patent citations. Our results complement the literature on market-pull policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, showing that technology-push policies represent a relevant option to determine the speed and direction of technical change in the field of clean technologies.

Speaker Bio:

Francesco Rentocchini is Economic Analyst at the European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC) and Associate Professor in Business Economics and Innovation at the Department of Economics, Management and Quantitative Methods at the University of Milan (IT). He was previously Associate Professor in Strategy and Innovation at the University of Southampton (UK).

He has an established research record in innovation studies. His main area of research relates to bi-directional flows between the generation of knowledge know-how and the development of technological innovation. His research interests include innovation in high-tech industries, environmental economics, growth and survival of start-ups and SMEs and university-industry collaborations.

The Manchester Institute of Innovation Research runs a series of regular seminars given by visiting speakers to Manchester. These seminars are open to anybody who is interested in science, technology and innovation policy and management.