Although female involvement in science and technology has been growing over recent years, it is still low. Latin America is no exception. Even though the Latin American region has achieved significant accomplishments in terms of gender parity, women’s participation in patenting activities remains small compared to that of men. The aim of this study is to explain the rate of female participation in patenting activity. We gather information from 3081 US patents granted to assignees in Latin America. The countries of our sample are Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Chile, Cuba, Colombia, México, Panamá, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela. The study period is from 1976 to 2011. This study reveals that the number of US patent granted with female involvement to the countries in our sample is only 22%. We use a probit model to explain women participation in patenting. Results suggest that external and internal collaboration, the institutional sector of the grantee, and innovations related to the life sciences have an effect on the probability of having female participation in patenting in Latin America. Our findings also show that the fertility rate and the human development of countries impact women participation in patenting in the Latin American region.

中文翻译：

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拉丁美洲的性别差异和专利申请：了解女性参与商业科学

尽管近年来女性对科学和技术的参与有所增加，但仍然很低。拉丁美洲也不例外。尽管拉丁美洲地区在性别均等方面取得了重大成就，但与男性相比，女性参与专利活动的人数仍然很少。本研究的目的是解释女性参与专利活动的比率。我们从授予拉丁美洲受让人的 3081 项美国专利中收集信息。我们样本的国家是阿根廷、巴西、哥斯达黎加、智利、古巴、哥伦比亚、墨西哥、巴拿马、秘鲁、乌拉圭和委内瑞拉。研究时间为 1976 年至 2011 年。这项研究表明，我们样本中的国家获得女性参与的美国专利数量仅为 22%。我们使用概率模型来解释女性参与专利申请。结果表明，外部和内部合作、受让人的机构部门以及与生命科学相关的创新对拉丁美洲女性参与专利申请的可能性有影响。我们的研究结果还表明，各国的生育率和人类发展会影响拉丁美洲地区妇女参与专利申请的情况。