Loading...
Please wait, while we are loading the content...
Lens or Prism? A Comparative Assessment of Patent Citations as a Measure of Knowledge Flows from Public Research
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Kenan-Flagler, Michael Roach |
| Copyright Year | 2011 |
| Abstract | In this paper, we assess the validity and accuracy of firm backward patent citations as a measure of knowledge flows from public research (i.e., university, government and other nonprofit research) by comparing them to a survey-based measure of public research. Employing a newly constructed dataset that matches patents to survey data at the level of the R&D lab, we identify sources of measurement error associated with backward citations to both patent and nonpatent references, respectively. We also consider the magnitude and direction of potential bias in backward citations as a measure of knowledge flows in a simple empirical model of industrial innovative performance. In brief, we find that patent citations miss a good deal of the content of knowledge flows from public research, especially those flows that tend to be more private, contract-based and not codified. We also show that, as a consequence, measuring knowledge flows with patent citations can lead to a substantial underestimate of the effect of public research on firms’ innovative performance. However, our analysis also suggests that, of the two types of patent citations, nonpatent references (e.g., journals, conferences, etc.) are a better measure of knowledge originating from public research. |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| DOI | 10.2139/ssrn.1911965 |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | http://conference.nber.org/conferences/2011/SI2011/PRIPP/Roach_Cohen.pdf |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1911965 |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
