Trends in the Number of Patent Applications and Changes in the Curriculum Guidelines in Japan

Kazuo Nishimura, Dai Miyamoto and Tadashi Yagi
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Dai Miyamoto: Graduate School of Economics, Doshisha University, JAPAN
Tadashi Yagi: Graduate School of Economics, Doshisha University, JAPAN

No DP2021-02, Discussion Paper Series from Research Institute for Economics & Business Administration, Kobe University

Abstract: The numbers of published scientific papers and patent applications are indicators of a country's research and development (R&D) capabilities. Since the 2010s, these indicators have declined in Japan. One important factor for this decline is the changes in science and mathematics education provided at schools because education in school can greatly impact the quality of future researchers in science. To examine the impact of the number of class hours in science and mathematics that researchers received in school over the past 50 years, this study analyzed data from two surveys conducted in 2016 and 2020. The results show that there is a decline in the number of patents for the younger generation that cannot be explained by age differences, and it is highly correlated with a decline in the total number of hours of science and math in junior high school. Therefore, a country's educational policies should be implemented only after validating their effects from a long-term perspective because such policies may have unintended negative impacts on the country's economic growth.

Keywords: Research and development capabilities; Number of patent applications; Science and mathematics education; Number of class hours (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I23 I28 O32 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 13 pages
Date: 2021-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-edu and nep-ipr
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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