  In this feasibility study, the impact of academic research from social
sciences and humanities on technological innovation is explored through a study
of citations patterns of journal articles in patents. Specifically we focus on
citations of journals from the field of environmental economics in patents
included in an American patent database (USPTO). Three decades of patents have
led to a small set of journal articles (85) that are being cited from the field
of environmental economics. While this route of measuring how academic research
is validated through its role in stimulating technological progress may be
rather limited (based on this first exploration), it may still point to a
valuable and interesting topic for further research.
