Spaces of Innovation: Patent Activity in Indiana Metropolitan Areas, 1990 to 1998

Organizations and individuals may express their capacity for innovation through patents for new products and services. This study examines one region’s recent history of innovation. How do Indiana’s metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) compare with other MSAs when measuring patent productivity? Some Indiana MSAs reflect a capacity for innovation, whereas others show less patent activity. Some Indiana MSAs look better nationally when measured in terms of patents per 10,000 employees. Indiana MSAs demonstrate strengths in pharmaceuticals and medical systems, electrical and electronic components, automobiles, and computers. The diffusion of patent volumes among Indiana MSAs varies with distance from Indianapolis. When compared with three MSAs with strengths in the life sciences (Minneapolis-St. Paul, San Diego, and San Francisco), the Indianapolis MSA lags in annual patent production. Life science patents from these three MSAs grew substantially in the late 1990s, whereas the Indianapolis MSA’s life science patent output dropped each year.