Global knowledge flows in high-tech sectors: evidence from patents

This study examines international knowledge flows in self-driving, electric vehicle, and semiconductor technologies using global patent data from 2010 to 2024. Chinese patenting grew rapidly, making China the largest contributor in these sectors. Despite this growth in patenting volume, a large share of influential patents continues to originate from firms headquartered in the United States, Japan, Germany, and South Korea. Across all three technologies, Chinese inventors receive relatively fewer citations from foreign inventors, indicating limited global diffusion of Chinese-origin knowledge. In contrast, patents from the United States and Japan are widely cited across countries, consistent with their role as central sources of globally diffused knowledge. After 2018, following trade tensions between the U.S. and China, bilateral knowledge exchange increased, particularly through the intangible knowledge embedded in patents. Overall, the evidence indicates that the two countries increasingly rely on each other's codified knowledge, as reflected in patents, rather than on direct transfers of physical technologies.