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Abstract:
R&D is becoming increasingly globalized, but R&D statistics have not
kept up with this development. Firm-level data capture R&D
investments irrespective of location, and OECD survey data typically
capture only R&D performed within national territorial boundaries. In
this paper we rely on information regarding the location of a firm’s
inventors and develop a method of quantifying the R&D investments
by country of inventive activity. For 3,024 European and US business
group and their subsidiaries we have identified all inventors and their
locations at the time of invention. In year 2000 these corporations
accounted for about 80% of the overall intramural R&D in their
countries as reflected in OECD data. Comparing inventor count data to
consolidated R&D expenditures we find high correlations both in
levels and growth rates. We estimate production function and market
value regressions taking the geographical distribution of a firm’s
inventive activities into account. Foreign-located inventors contribute
significantly to productivity growth and market value.
