Product and Process Innovation in the U.S. from 1980-2015 and Over the Firm’s Life Cycle

This paper uses machine learning techniques to classify patent claims as product or process innovations. I document that the overall process share of innovation was on a secular decline from 1980-2015. I find that the process share is low at the beginning of a firm’s product life cycle, peaks in the middle before plateauing at an intermediate level at the end of the life cycle. Firm size is positively associated with the process share of innovation.