A simple index of innovation with complexity

Jose Fernandez Donoso ()

Journal of Informetrics, 2017, vol. 11, issue 1, 1-17

Abstract: Patents are the main source of data on innovation. Since most of the innovative activity happens outside of the patenting system, and since patents −and innovations- have different quality, complexity, and impact on each market, unweighted sums of patents and proxies are an imperfect indicator of a country’s innovative activity. I generate two very simple indices of innovation (one dependent on the size of a country, and another that normalizes country-size), based on weighting patents and exports by a complexity measure. Each index captures the technological complexity of innovations inside and outside the intellectual property rights system. I empirically analyze the rankings of these innovation indices, and contrast the results with technological development, GDP, and the existing mainstream innovation index.

Keywords: Innovation; Innovation Output; Intellectual Property; Patents; Complexity; Technology (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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Working Paper: A simple index of innovation with complexity (2016)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:infome:v:11:y:2017:i:1:p:1-17

DOI: 10.1016/j.joi.2016.10.009

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