Trade and the margins of innovative technologies: evidence from patent-firm matched data

Abstract

We study the impact of China's surge in the global economy on the intensive and extensive margins of firm-level innovative technologies. We predict that greater market access following the accession of China to the World Trade Organization (WTO) has positive effects on both the intensive and extensive margins of innovative technologies, and the effects are more pronounced for more productive firms. We confirm our predictions empirically using the United States Patent and Trademark Office patent data matched with Taiwanese firm-level data for the period from 1998-2014.