In this article, we adopt a task approach to measure the local pool of capabilities which can more effectively spur innovation. By focusing on the core activities that workers undertake in their jobs, we build an abstract task intensity measure of occupations to proxy the ability in analysing and solving complex problems, as well as in coordinating and integrating people with different knowledge endowments, that should be especially relevant for the process of invention and innovation. We thus estimate the relationship between the local abstract intensity and the inventive performance, proxied by granted patents, of US Commuting Zones (CZs) during the period 2000–2015. The evidence provided, robust to a wide array of sensitivity checks, points to the extent of workers’ engagement in abstract tasks across CZs as a crucial determinant of the local inventive activity.

中文翻译：

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美国通勤区的当地劳工任务和专利

在本文中，我们采用任务方法来衡量可以更有效地刺激创新的本地能力库。通过关注工人在工作中从事的核心活动，我们建立了一个抽象的职业任务强度度量来代表分析和解决复杂问题的能力，以及协调和整合具有不同知识禀赋的人的能力，这尤其应该是与发明和创新过程相关。因此，我们估计了 2000 年至 2015 年期间美国通勤区 (CZ) 的本地抽象强度与以授权专利为代表的发明性能之间的关系。提供的证据对广泛的敏感性检查来说是可靠的，