Civil-Military Patents and Technological Knowledge Flows into the Leading Defense Firms

Acosta, Manuel and Coronado, Daniel and Ferrándiz, Esther and Marín, M. Rosario and Moreno, Pedro J. (2020): Civil-Military Patents and Technological Knowledge Flows into the Leading Defense Firms. Published in: Armed Forces & Society , Vol. 3, No. 46 (2020): pp. 454-474.

Abstract

Drawing upon 106,181 patent applications by the world’s largest defense firms and 241,571 patent citations (2002-2011), this paper has two main objectives. The first is to explore the factors affecting the production of mixed patents (those with potential dual applications in both military and civilian spheres). The second is to identify the causes of the use of military knowledge for civilian inventions (spin off) and the use of civilian knowledge in military patented technologies (spin in). Our calculations show highly significant coefficients for the variables capturing the “military technological capability” and the size of the company in explaining the production of mixed technologies. The spin off process is affected by the military technological capability, the size of the firm and the location. The spin in mechanism is explained by the military technological capability and the location of the firm, while the size of the company is not relevant.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: dual use, mixed technologies, military patents, defense industry, patent citations, spin-off, spin-in
• Subjects: F - International Economics > F2 - International Factor Movements and International Business > F23 - Multinational Firms ; International Business; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O3 - Innovation ; Research and Development ; Technological Change ; Intellectual Property Rights > O31 - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives

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