Comparative invention performance of major industrial countries: Patterns and explanations

Abstract

The paper firsjt presents an analysis of invention performance; as measured by patenting activities, of six countries (France, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom, USSR, West Germany) relative to the United States for 41 SIC industries over the past twenty years. It turns out that Non U.S. countries as a whole have increased their (relative) invention performance in all fields of technology, including high technology fields. In the second section hypotheses which can be supposed to explain the relative decline of the United States' patenting activities are discussed and tested. There is strong evidence that catching up processes as well as integration effects contributed most to the relative decrease of the United States; there also is evidence, that government interventions regarding technology production have had counter-productive effects in the United States.