Author

S L. Ceh

Date of Award

1994

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Abstract

An analysis of Canadian patent, industrial directory and census data can distinguish and explain inventive patterns in Canada between 1975 and 1989. Such an analysis is needed to update and expand the geography of invention literature, because few studies examine the many varied characteristics of Canadian inventive regions and firms.;An examination of about 90 percent of Canada's patented inventions in 1975, 1981 and 1989 provided a temporal understanding about the relative amount of inventive activity in Canadian regions at the firm and entrepreneurial level. Further, geographic information about the number and types of inventions traded by Canada is analyzed for the three study periods.;Multivariate regression models of Canadian census and patent data provided insight about the socio-economic characteristics of Canadian inventive regions in 1981. Additionally, factor and discriminant models proved useful for detecting those characteristics that typify Canadian inventive enterprises. Data for these latter models are available in Canadian industrial directories and patent sources.;It is shown that the geographic core of Canadian inventive activity collapsed from an area between Quebec City and Sarnia in 1975 to an area between Montreal and Kitchener-Waterloo in 1989. Also, Canada's three largest cities became much less inventive after 1981. This outcome can be attributed to the less inventive nature of recent foreign owned, and large, Canadian enterprises. Most Canadian cities are less inventive today than a decade ago, because: (1) Greater technological know-how is required of Canadian inventors, and; (2) There are international economic forces acting on Canadian inventive activity.;A large population base and skilled labour force are two important variables associated with major inventive Canadian regions. These conditions are absent in the Maritime region, but are abundant in Southern Ontario. It is shown that, as foreign owned enterprises became less inventive in Canada, certain industries, i.e., electronic, had more of their inventions developed by Canadian-owned enterprises. Lastly, the relationship between the size distribution of enterprises and their inventiveness is J-shaped. It is possible that this relationship could soon become U-shaped, because small Canadian enterprises are creating a larger share of Canada's inventions.

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