High-Tech Regions as Innovators of Traditional Technologies

This study investigates whether high-tech innovation stimulates innovation in traditional fields across US metropolitan regions between 1996 and 2014. Existing theory emphasizes that innovation unfolds differently in high-tech versus low- and medium-tech industries, while a common view among stakeholders portrays technological progress as a linear shift from traditional to high-tech fields. Utilizing USPTO patent data and technological classifications, this study examines whether regions strong in high-tech fields also experience growth in patenting within non-high-tech industries. The findings indicate that metropolitan regions with higher levels of high-tech patenting in 1996–2000 subsequently exhibited more patenting in traditional fields in 2010–2014, with effects varying across industries. The analysis further suggests that regional innovation in traditional fields is predominantly shaped by path dependency, with high-tech innovation serving a more complementary role. Overall, the study highlights a symbiotic—rather than unidirectional—relationship between traditional and high-tech innovation.