Abstract
Applying distance-to-frontier analysis, we have used 2.9
million patents and population data to assess whether the
relative capacity of world countries and major regions to
create new knowledge and technology has become globally
more equal or less equal between 1990 and 2010. We show
with the Gini coefficient that the global distribution of
inventors has become more equal between major countries
and regions. However, this trend has been largely due to
the improved performance of only two major countries,
China and India. The worst performing regions, totalling
a population of almost 2 billion, are actually falling
behind. Our results suggest that substantial parts of the
global population have fallen further behind countries at
the global frontier in their ability to create new
knowledge and inventions, and that the catch-up among the
least developed and middle-income countries is highly
uneven, prompting questions about the nature and future
of the global knowledge economy.
Original language | English |
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Article number | e0122098 |
Journal | PLoS ONE |
Volume | 10 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2015 |
MoE publication type | A1 Journal article-refereed |
Keywords
- globalization
- development
- technology
- inventors
- patents
- catch-up
- knowledge
- economy
- equality