Ethnic inventors play important roles in US innovation systems, especially in high-tech regions like Silicon Valley. Do `ethnicity-innovation? channels exist elsewhere? This paper investigates, using a new panel of UK patents microdata. In theory, ethnicity might affect positively innovation via `star? migrants, network externalities from co-ethnic groups, or production complementarities from diverse inventor communities. I use the novel ONOMAP name classification system to identify ethnic inventors. Controlling for individuals? human capital, I find small positive effects of South Asian and Southern European co-ethnic group membership on individual patenting. The overall diversity of inventor communities also helps raise individual inventors? productivity. I find no hard evidence that ethnic inventors crowd out patenting by majority groups.

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11 October 2011     Paper Number SERCDP0092

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This SERC/Urban and Spatial Programme Discussion Paper is published under the centre's Urban programme.