SPECIALIZATION AND SIZE OF TECHNOLOGICAL ACTIVITIES IN INDUSTRIAL-COUNTRIES - THE ANALYSIS OF PATENT DATA

The determinants and direction of the technological specialization of advanced countries are investigated in this paper using patent counts and citations as technology indicators. During the 1980s, international patenting increased more rapidly than the resources devoted to R&D, indicating a globalization of technology markets, paralleled by a growing degree of sectoral specialization of countries' innovative activities. A clear-cut inverse relationship between countries' technological size (measured by cumulative R&D expenditure) and degree of specialization has been found. Only large countries can afford to spread their activities across most technological fields, while small and medium-sized countries are to some extent forced to specialize in more narrow niches. Some methodological aspects in the use of patenting as an internationally comparable indicator are also discussed. Considerable differences emerged between patent specialization profiles in the internal and in external markets. Firms tend to protect their internal market through patenting also in fields where they do not excel at the international level, leading to a smoother specialization profile.