Vassar College Economics Working Paper #84

The dynamics of patent citations

Alan C. Marco (November 2006)

Abstract

The use of patent citations as a measure of patent "quality" increased dramatically in recent years. I estimate the hazard of patent citation, and find evidence of unobserved heterogeneity. Hazard estimation provides a means to separate patent quality from citation "inflation."

Keywords: patents, patent citations, hazard rate, duration.

JEL: C1, O3.

Working Paper (411 K)