The geography of green technology licensing in China

Abstract

Heatmap techniques are used to visualize the geography of green technology license agreements in China. The map is based on unique patent and licensing data, linking regional technology development (licensors) to regional technology adoption (licensees), thus allowing the study of diffusion patterns of green technologies. It highlights the fact that most green technology license agreements are concluded within the same region, which is often neglected when studying diffusion processes from a network perspective. Heatmaps allow a better interpretation of network data, in particular for networks with many loops when compared with classical network visualizations.