Spillover Effects and the Science Base of Innovations Reconsidered: An Empirical Approach

When quantifying spillover effects among technologies and between science and technology one faces the problem that clear-cut measurement procedures are difficult to define and to validate. The well-known approach by indexing certain outputs (patent documents) grasps only parts of the complex and feedback innovation-oriented processes. However, recently, new promising lines of research for understanding technological externalities have been embarked upon. New measurements of the science-technology-innovation interface are presented from three different aspects. First, the overall properties of technological spillover and, second, of science involvement in innovations are presented on a worldwide scale. The third main section of the results provides a panoramic view of scientific involvement in technology in terms of a country comparison. The contribution attempts to add quantitative evidence for an evolutionary understanding of the externalities between public science, latent public technology, and private innovation.