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Measuring patent quality and national technological capacity in cross-country comparison

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  • Boeing, Philipp
  • Mueller, Elisabeth

Abstract

China recently surpassed the USA as the greatest global source of patent applications. However, without internationally comparable measures of patent quality it remains questionable whether China's patent expansion constitutes the rise of a new technological superpower. Our novel quality index is based on citations from international search reports and provides internationally comparable, quality-adjusted figures for applications made under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). We show that China's patent expansion has taken place to the detriment of patent quality. Weighting national PCT counts with our index reveals a widening gap between the technological capacities of China and the leading USA.

Suggested Citation

  • Boeing, Philipp & Mueller, Elisabeth, 2016. "Measuring patent quality and national technological capacity in cross-country comparison," ZEW Discussion Papers 16-048, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:zewdip:16048
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Rong, Zhao & Wu, Xiaokai & Boeing, Philipp, 2017. "The effect of institutional ownership on firm innovation: Evidence from Chinese listed firms," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(9), pages 1533-1551.
    2. Christian Fisch & Jörn Block & Philipp Sandner, 2019. "The impact of acquisitions on Chinese acquirers’ innovation performance: an empirical investigation of 1545 Chinese acquisitions," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 89(2), pages 125-153, March.
    3. Boeing, Philipp & Mueller, Elisabeth, 2019. "Measuring China's patent quality: Development and validation of ISR indices," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    4. Proksch, Dorian & Busch-Casler, Julia & Haberstroh, Marcus Max & Pinkwart, Andreas, 2019. "National health innovation systems: Clustering the OECD countries by innovative output in healthcare using a multi indicator approach," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 169-179.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    patent quality; national technological capacity; cross-country comparison;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O32 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Management of Technological Innovation and R&D
    • O34 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Intellectual Property and Intellectual Capital

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