Do Firms Face a Trade-Off between the Quantity and the Quality of Their Inventions?

Gaétan de Rassenfosse

Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series from Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne

Abstract: This paper presents evidence that firms face a trade-off between the quantity and quality of their research output. The econometric analysis uses survey data on patent applicants at the European Patent Office and addresses the identification problem caused by differences in firms’ propensity to patent. The existence of a trade-off emphasizes the need to take the quality of research output into account when assessing research productivity. It also raises questions about the optimal quantity–quality mix that firms should target.

Keywords: Innovation performance; invention quality; invention quantity; patent explosion; propensity to patent; research productivity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D83 L25 O31 O33 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 18 pages
Date: 2013-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eff, nep-ino, nep-ipr and nep-pr~
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (17)

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Journal Article: Do firms face a trade-off between the quantity and the quality of their inventions? (2013)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:iae:iaewps:wp2013n06

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