A new British Academy fellowship

I am super excited to be starting my new British Academy Innovation Fellowship. Over the next few months I will be working with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and the Levelling Up Advisory Council to provide insights into the spatial distribution of intangible capital and the diffusion of knowledge.

Hence, we can answer questions such as 1) How does intangible capital vary across the UK? 2) How can we better identify technology adoption and diffusion performance between regions, sectors or over time?

The project will use patent data to approximate the variation, adoption and diffusion of knowledge across space, time, and technology (patent classification). Using this data, we aim to:

i) map knowledge and intangible capital across the UK in time.

ii) identify technological breakthroughs and significant patents.

iii) test the role of industrial structure characteristics such as relatedness in affecting the probability of a “significant” patent emerging.

The findings will inform policymakers on the drivers of knowledge creation and diffusion, opening up options for interventions to maximise the benefits of innovation and reduce the inequality associated with it.

The project is still in its early days so do get in touch with feedback and ideas!