Research Briefs·May 13, 2025

Interactive Research Brief: Measuring the Characteristics and Employment Dynamics of U.S. Inventors

Ufuk Akcigit and Nathan Goldschlag

Innovation is a key driver of economic growth, and understanding the conditions that lead people to invent new technologies can help reduce inequality between groups as well as help spur growth overall. This project aims to facilitate such efforts using a new dataset that links data from the Census Bureau to information on inventors who received patents between 2000 and 2016. The end result is a dataset covering demographic characteristics and employment histories for over 760,000 inventors, from which the authors draw the following insights.

↓ Scroll to Explore Insights ↓

 

View PDF View Working Paper
Related People
Related Research

More on this topic

Research Briefs·Oct 2, 2024

Moving to Opportunity, Together

Seema Jayachandran, Lea Nassal, Matthew J. Notowidigdo, Marie Paul, Heather Sarsons, and Elin Sundberg
When heterosexual couples in Germany and Sweden relocate, men’s earnings increase by 5-10%, while women’s do not change. Couples are more likely to relocate when the man, rather than the woman, is laid off. These gaps appear at least in...
Topics: Employment & Wages
Research Briefs·Jul 18, 2024

Historical Differences in Female-Owned Manufacturing Establishments: The United States, 1850-1880

Ruveyda Gozen, Richard Hornbeck, Anders Humlum, and Martin Rotemberg
During the late 1800s, manufacturing establishments owned by females were smaller than those owned by males and had lower capital-to-output ratios. Female-owned establishments employed more women and paid women higher wages, and were concentrated in sub-industries like women’s clothing and...
Topics: Employment & Wages
Research Briefs·May 23, 2024

Can You Erase the Mark of a Criminal Record? Labor Market Impacts of Criminal Record Remediation

Amanda Y. Agan,  Andrew Garin, Dmitri K. Koustas, Alexandre Mas, and Crystal Yang
Removing a previously obtained criminal record does not improve labor market outcomes, on average, with the notable exception of participation in gig work through online platforms.
Topics: Economic Mobility & Poverty, Employment & Wages