The pattern of technological accumulation: The comparative advantage and relative impact of 3D printing technology

Purpose - The national technology accumulation pattern in three-dimensional (3D) printing technology field has not yet been studied until now. This paper is to fill this gap. To be specific, the purpose of this paper is to answer the following two questions. What is the comparative advantage of 3D printing technology among countries? What is the relative impact of 3D printing technology in the worldwide? Design/methodology/approach - Patent bibliometric analysis was used for analyzing and collecting data to find critical information of 3D printing. Some indicators (RTA, FSGI, RII, CV) have been applied in analyzing the national patterns of technology accumulation in developed and developing countries by using patent statistics. Findings - First, the USA, Japan, and Germany are the leading countries in 3D printing technology, while the technology accumulation patterns of these countries are rather different. Second, Israel and Italy have good performance in the fast-growing technology sub-fields. Third, although the number of patents owned by developing countries, such as China and Russia, is not few, the citations received by these patents are low. Research limitations/implications - A limitation of this study is that technological development can be reflected by many indicators and patent statistic is merely one reflection form. This study just analyzes the 3D printing technology development from the perspective of patent statistic, the authors would like to continue the comprehensive analysis with the other data indicators in a future study. Originality/value - The national technology accumulation pattern in 3D printing technology field has not yet been studied until now. This paper is to fill this gap.