Sectoral patterns of production and use of innovations in the UK: 1945–1983

Abstract

Based on information on more than 4000 innovations commercialised in the UK between 1945 and 1983, we analyse sectoral patterns and trends in the production and use of innovations. A few core sectors (chemical, mechanical, instruments and electronic) are of major importance in the production of technology that gets used over a much wider range of sectors, including those outside manufacturing. Similar sectoral patterns of production and use exist in the UK and USA. The trend over time in the UK has been toward greater sectoral interdependence in technology, and a higher share of uses outside manufacturing reflecting the growth and spread of the electronic-based technological cluster. Any understanding of the nature, determinants and dynamics of intersectoral differences in patterns of production and use of technology will require an integration into empirical and theoretical analysis of the characteristics of innovating firms.