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Measuring Regional Innovativeness - A Methodological Discussion and an Application to One German Industry

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  • Tom Broekel

    (Max Planck Institute of Economics, Evolutionary Economics Group)

  • Thomas Brenner

    (Max Planck Institute of Economics, Evolutionary Economics Group)

Abstract

The regional or national innovation performance has been repeatedly measured in the literature; but it has so far not been discussed what this means, especially in relation to a region. What is the contribution of a region to innovation output? The usual approaches implicitly assume that higher innovation outputs per inhabitant, employee, or R+D employee can be assigned to a region. We argue that more insights are gained if we distinguish between various mechanisms that influence the innovation activities in a region. Different analyses need to be conducted, using different variables and including different local factors. Furthermore, we see no justification for using a linear dependence of innovation activity on the number of inhabitants or employees as a benchmark for performance. We use a method that takes into account these arguments and apply it to the Electrics + Electronics industry in Germany.

Suggested Citation

  • Tom Broekel & Thomas Brenner, 2007. "Measuring Regional Innovativeness - A Methodological Discussion and an Application to One German Industry," Jena Economics Research Papers 2007-065, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena.
  • Handle: RePEc:jrp:jrpwrp:2007-065
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    Cited by:

    1. Abbasiharofteh, Milad & Kogler, Dieter F. & Lengyel, Balázs, 2023. "Atypical combinations of technologies in regional co-inventor networks," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(10).
    2. Tom Broekel & Nicky Rogge & Thomas Brenner, 2018. "The innovation efficiency of German regions – a shared-input DEA approach," Review of Regional Research: Jahrbuch für Regionalwissenschaft, Springer;Gesellschaft für Regionalforschung (GfR), vol. 38(1), pages 77-109, February.
    3. Tom Broekel, 2007. "A Concordance between Industries and Technologies Matching the technological fields of the Patentatlas to the German Industry Classification," Jena Economics Research Papers 2007-041, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena.
    4. Shi, Xing & Wu, Yanrui & Fu, Dahai, 2020. "Does University-Industry collaboration improve innovation efficiency? Evidence from Chinese Firms⋄," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 39-53.
    5. Thomas Brenner & Tom Broekel, 2011. "Methodological Issues in Measuring Innovation Performance of Spatial Units," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(1), pages 7-37.
    6. Tom Broekel, 2015. "Do Cooperative Research and Development (R&D) Subsidies Stimulate Regional Innovation Efficiency? Evidence from Germany," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(7), pages 1087-1110, July.
    7. Matthias Bürger, 2011. "Dynamics of Collaborative Invention Tracking Growth of Cooperative and Total Patents in the Region," Jena Economics Research Papers 2011-045, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena.
    8. Chen Kaihua & Kou Mingting, 2014. "Staged efficiency and its determinants of regional innovation systems: a two-step analytical procedure," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 52(2), pages 627-657, March.
    9. Tom Broekel & Thomas Brenner, 2011. "Regional factors and innovativeness: an empirical analysis of four German industries," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 47(1), pages 169-194, August.
    10. Kaihua Chen & Jiancheng Guan, 2012. "Measuring the Efficiency of China's Regional Innovation Systems: Application of Network Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA)," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(3), pages 355-377, April.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Regional innovation performance; regional innovativeness; non-parametric performance analysis; measurement of regional innovativeness;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • R11 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes
    • R15 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Econometric and Input-Output Models; Other Methods
    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives

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