Regional Innovation Measured by Patent Data—Does Quality Matter?

This paper devises a new way of measuring the geographical scope of innovation based on patent data and compares its geographical distribution with that of patents granted and production. Indicators of patent quality are used to form an index of regional innovation, which is argued to be an improvement over patent counts, which are seen as indicators of inventions. Innovations are more concentrated than inventions, which in turn are more concentrated than production, gauged by employment levels. Innovations are, moreover, concentrated to regions with already high production and invention levels. This indicates that the concentration of innovation is understated, as raw patent counts are used to proxy for innovation rather than quality patents. The results further point to the need for revaluing effect of R&D on local innovative activity.