Peripheral participation, metropolitan ownership: core and periphery configurations in Japan’s Green Transformation technological paths

Abstract Research on innovation beyond metropolitan cores has paid less attention to whether peripheral participation is matched by formal ownership of patents on key technological paths. We distinguish spatial and network participation from the headquarters geography of patent applicants, and apply kernel density, core–periphery network, and main-path analyses to sixty-two Japanese Green Transformation technologies. Four technology participation configurations emerge. Yet most main-path patent–firm links involve firms headquartered in Japan’s three major metropolitan areas. The study highlights that participation in main technological paths differs from ownership, which marks the tensions between core and peripheral configurations of inventive activity.