In search of performance effects of (in)direct industry science links

Abstract

Using patent data from the European Patent Office combined with firm level data, we evaluate the contribution of science linkages to the innovation performance of a firm at the patent level. We examine the effect of i) firm level linkages to science (firms active in publication and copublication), and ii) invention-specific linkages (patents with citations to scientific publications) on patent quality measures. Our results suggest that citations to scientific publications are not significant in explaining forward citations but are positively related to the scope of forward citations, both in terms of generality and geographical dispersion. Our main finding is that it is the linkage to science at the firm level that matters more for forward citations, except for patents in emerging technologies. In particular, non-science related patents of firms with firm level scientific linkages are more frequently and more quickly cited than comparable patents of firms without these science linkages.