The paper compares and contrasts the patent-based indicators, traditionally used to assess a country’s technological capacities and specialization. It seeks to determine how a chosen metric might affect the results of such an analysis, sometimes being misleading. Empirically, the paper is...

This paper analyses the determinants of spatial distribution of foreign technological activity across 96 German regions (1996-2009). We identify foreign inventive activity by applying the ‘cross-border-ownership concept’ to transnational patent applications. The descriptive analysis shows...

Patent data provide a rich set of information which can be used for comparative studies and trend analysis. The paper presents a systematic overview of the most appropriate tools methodologies that are available for determining the technological specialization of countries. Such analysis...