Kuhn, JeffreyYounge, KennethMarco, Alan2020-04-042020-04-042020-04-042020-03-0110.1111/1756-2171.12307https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/167955WOS:000520705300004Many studies rely on patent citations to measure intellectual heritage and impact. In this article, we show that the nature of patent citations has changed dramatically in recent years. Today, a small minority of patent applications are generating a large majority of patent citations, and the mean technological similarity between citing and cited patents has fallen considerably. We replicate several well-known studies in industrial organization and innovation economics and demonstrate how generalized assumptions about the nature of patent citations have misled the field.EconomicsBusiness & Economicsknowledge spilloversmarket valuegeographysearchflowstext::journal::journal article::research article