Women inventors: On the Origins of the Gender Patenting Gap

The Institute of Economics will hold a seminar meeting as part of its Seminar Series on Tuesday, July 16, 2024: Faustine Perrin from Lund University will present the paper “Women inventors: On the Origins of the Gender Patenting Gap".

Abstract:

The gender patenting gap is well-established and is wide. Despite important progress made over the past decades, the gap remains. Why are women underrepresented in patenting activities? What are the roots of the gender patenting gap? Our knowledge of women’s contribution to innovative activities in the past remains extremely limited. To address this, we build an original database covering all French patents granted during the nineteenth century and investigate the extent to which women patented relative to men. We find that despite the absence of scientific and technical education opportunities for women and the presence of institutional barriers, women, including married women, took an active part in the innovation process. The exploration of women and men patenting behaviors reveals notable similarities, yet it also uncovers a persistent glass ceiling that women do not manage to overcome. The empirical analysis conducted in the paper suggests that explanations of the origins and persistence of the gender patenting gap have to be found outside of the patent system itself.

The Seminar will be held in Aula 2.