IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/scient/v114y2018i2d10.1007_s11192-017-2602-9.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Capturing ‘R&D excellence’: indicators, international statistics, and innovative universities

Author

Listed:
  • Robert J. W. Tijssen

    (Leiden University
    Stellenbosch University)

  • Jos J. Winnink

    (Leiden University)

Abstract

Excellent research may contribute to successful science-based technological innovation. We define ‘R&D excellence’ in terms of scientific research that has contributed to the development of influential technologies, where ‘excellence’ refers to the top segment of a statistical distribution based on internationally comparative performance scores. Our measurements are derived from frequency counts of literature references (‘citations’) from patents to research publications during the last 15 years. The ‘D’ part in R&D is represented by the top 10% most highly cited ‘excellent’ patents worldwide. The ‘R’ part is captured by research articles in international scholarly journals that are cited by these patented technologies. After analyzing millions of citing patents and cited research publications, we find very large differences between countries worldwide in terms of the volume of domestic science contributing to those patented technologies. Where the USA produces the largest numbers of cited research publications (partly because of database biases), Switzerland and Israel outperform the US after correcting for the size of their national science systems. To tease out possible explanatory factors, which may significantly affect or determine these performance differentials, we first studied high-income nations and advanced economies. Here we find that the size of R&D expenditure correlates with the sheer size of cited publications, as does the degree of university research cooperation with domestic firms. When broadening our comparative framework to 70 countries (including many medium-income nations) while correcting for size of national science systems, the important explanatory factors become the availability of human resources and quality of science systems. Focusing on the latter factor, our in-depth analysis of 716 research-intensive universities worldwide reveals several universities with very high scores on our two R&D excellence indicators. Confirming the above macro-level findings, an in-depth study of 27 leading US universities identifies research expenditure size as a prime determinant. Our analytical model and quantitative indicators provides a supplementary perspective to input-oriented statistics based on R&D expenditures. The country-level findings are indicative of significant disparities between national R&D systems. Comparing the performance of individual universities, we observe large differences within national science systems. The top ranking ‘innovative’ research universities contribute significantly to the development of advanced science-based technologies.

Suggested Citation

  • Robert J. W. Tijssen & Jos J. Winnink, 2018. "Capturing ‘R&D excellence’: indicators, international statistics, and innovative universities," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 114(2), pages 687-699, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:114:y:2018:i:2:d:10.1007_s11192-017-2602-9
    DOI: 10.1007/s11192-017-2602-9
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11192-017-2602-9
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11192-017-2602-9?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. repec:fth:harver:1473 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Van Looy, Bart & Landoni, Paolo & Callaert, Julie & van Pottelsberghe, Bruno & Sapsalis, Eleftherios & Debackere, Koenraad, 2011. "Entrepreneurial effectiveness of European universities: An empirical assessment of antecedents and trade-offs," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(4), pages 553-564, May.
    3. James Adams & Zvi Griliches, 1996. "Measuring Science: An Exploration," NBER Working Papers 5478, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Anthony Arundel & Aldo Geuna, 2004. "Proximity and the use of public science by innovative European firms," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(6), pages 559-580.
    5. Robert J W Tijssen, 2003. "Scoreboards of research excellence," Research Evaluation, Oxford University Press, vol. 12(2), pages 91-103, August.
    6. Stephane Lhuillery & Julio Raffo & Intan Hamdan-Livramento, 2016. "Measuring creativity: Learning from innovation measurement," WIPO Economic Research Working Papers 31, World Intellectual Property Organization - Economics and Statistics Division.
    7. Bruno Cassiman & Patrick Glenisson & Bart Looy, 2007. "Measuring industry-science links through inventor-author relations: A profiling methodology," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 70(2), pages 379-391, February.
    8. Narin, Francis & Hamilton, Kimberly S. & Olivastro, Dominic, 1997. "The increasing linkage between U.S. technology and public science," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 26(3), pages 317-330, October.
    9. Zvi Griliches, 1998. "Patent Statistics as Economic Indicators: A Survey," NBER Chapters, in: R&D and Productivity: The Econometric Evidence, pages 287-343, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Diana Hicks & Anthony Breitzman & Kimberly Hamilton & Francis Narin, 2000. "Research excellence and patented innovation," Science and Public Policy, Oxford University Press, vol. 27(5), pages 310-320, October.
    11. R. J. W. Tussen & R. K. Buter & Th. N. van Leeuwen, 2000. "Technological Relevance of Science: An Assessment of Citation Linkages between Patents and Research Papers," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 47(2), pages 389-412, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Elizabeth S. Vieira, 2022. "International research collaboration in Africa: a bibliometric and thematic analysis," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(5), pages 2747-2772, May.
    2. Weresa Marzenna Anna, 2019. "Technological competitiveness of the EU member states in the era of the fourth industrial revolution," Economics and Business Review, Sciendo, vol. 5(3), pages 50-71, September.
    3. da Ponte, Aureliano & Leon, Gonzalo & Alvarez, Isabel, 2023. "Technological sovereignty of the EU in advanced 5G mobile communications: An empirical approach," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(1).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Leten, Bart & Landoni, Paolo & Van Looy, Bart, 2014. "Science or graduates: How do firms benefit from the proximity of universities?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(8), pages 1398-1412.
    2. Veugelers, Reinhilde & Wang, Jian, 2019. "Scientific novelty and technological impact," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(6), pages 1362-1372.
    3. Jyun-Cheng Wang & Cheng-hsin Chiang & Shu-Wei Lin, 2010. "Network structure of innovation: can brokerage or closure predict patent quality?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 84(3), pages 735-748, September.
    4. Leten, Bart & Kelchtermans, Stijn & Belderbos, Ren, 2010. "Internal Basic Research, External Basic Research and the Technological Performance of Pharmaceutical Firms," Working Papers 2010/12, Hogeschool-Universiteit Brussel, Faculteit Economie en Management.
    5. Wen-Chi Hung & Cherng G. Ding & Hung-Jui Wang & Meng-Che Lee & Chieh-Peng Lin, 2015. "Evaluating and comparing the university performance in knowledge utilization for patented inventions," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 102(2), pages 1269-1286, February.
    6. Gazni, Ali, 2020. "The growing number of patent citations to scientific papers: Changes in the world, nations, and fields," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    7. Sung, Hui-Yun & Wang, Chun-Chieh & Huang, Mu-Hsuan & Chen, Dar-Zen, 2015. "Measuring science-based science linkage and non-science-based linkage of patents through non-patent references," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 9(3), pages 488-498.
    8. Bart Looy & Tom Magerman & Koenraad Debackere, 2007. "Developing technology in the vicinity of science: An examination of the relationship between science intensity (of patents) and technological productivity within the field of biotechnology," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 70(2), pages 441-458, February.
    9. Staffan Jacobsson, 2002. "Universities and industrial transformation: An interpretative and selective literature study with special emphasis on Sweden," SPRU Working Paper Series 81, SPRU - Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex Business School.
    10. Naomi Fukuzawa & Takanori Ida, 2016. "Science linkages between scientific articles and patents for leading scientists in the life and medical sciences field: the case of Japan," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 106(2), pages 629-644, February.
    11. Naomi Fukuzawa & Takanori Ida, 2014. "Science linkages focused on star scientists in the life and medical sciences: The case of Japan," Discussion papers e-14-006, Graduate School of Economics Project Center, Kyoto University.
    12. Belderbos, René & Mohnen, Pierre, 2020. "Inter-sectoral and international R&D spillovers," MERIT Working Papers 2020-047, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    13. Beck, Mathias & Junge, Martin & Kaiser, Ulrich, 2017. "Public Funding and Corporate Innovation," IZA Discussion Papers 11196, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    14. Yue Wu & Yue Yang & Weishun Xu & Qiuxiao Chen, 2020. "The Influence of Innovation Resources in Higher Education Institutions on the Development of Sci-Tech Parks’ Enterprises in the Urban Innovative Districts at the Stage of Urbanization Transformation," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-36, October.
    15. Hirschey, Mark & Richardson, Vernon J., 2001. "Valuation effects of patent quality: A comparison for Japanese and U.S. firms," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 9(1), pages 65-82, January.
    16. R. J. W. Tussen & R. K. Buter & Th. N. van Leeuwen, 2000. "Technological Relevance of Science: An Assessment of Citation Linkages between Patents and Research Papers," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 47(2), pages 389-412, February.
    17. Annita Nugent & Ho Fai Chan & Uwe Dulleck, 2022. "Government funding of university-industry collaboration: exploring the impact of targeted funding on university patent activity," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(1), pages 29-73, January.
    18. Michael Roach & Wesley M. Cohen, 2012. "Lens or Prism? Patent Citations as a Measure of Knowledge Flows from Public Research," NBER Working Papers 18292, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    19. Rodríguez-Navarro, Alonso & Brito, Ricardo, 2018. "Technological research in the EU is less efficient than the world average. EU research policy risks Europeans’ future," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 718-731.
    20. Leonardo Costa Ribeiro & Glenda Kruss & Gustavo Britto & Américo Tristão Bernardes & Eduardo Motta e Albuquerque, 2014. "A methodology for unveiling global innovation networks: patent citations as clues to cross border knowledge flows," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 101(1), pages 61-83, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:114:y:2018:i:2:d:10.1007_s11192-017-2602-9. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.