Techno-Globalization: Theory and Empirical Analysis for OECD Countries

Parallel to the globalization of production and sales, multinational firms have partly also internationalized their research and development (R&D). In both the media and modern research on innovation, the increase in terms of the international generation, transfer and diffusion of new technologies has been described as technological globalization and techno- globalization; research has picked up the topic in scientific analysis. Based on the patent indicators suggested by Guellec and Pottelsberghe de la Potterie (2001), this contribution gives a consistent analysis of global technological cooperation as well as of the global sourcing of innovations as key elements of techno-globalization. In addition to taking stock for a cross- section of OECD countries and a time series examination for the whole of the OECD, and Germany and the Netherlands in particular, the significant drivers of techno-globalization are determined by simple correlation and regression analyses. Furthermore, simple tests for beta convergence show that there is an international convergence of the patent shares with domestic inventors and foreign applicants and also a convergence of the countries' patent shares with an international cooperation of inventors. The analysis is completed by a view on the sectoral differences with regard to the internationalization of innovations as well as by some considerations with regard to the links between the internationalization of enterprises' innovations and domestic employment.