Does Patent Performance Promote Relative Technological Performance in Countries Bordering the Mediterranean?

Abstract

In the present paper, we explore the relationship between patent performance and relative technological performance. A review of the theoretical and empirical literature shows that patenting is one of the major drivers for enhancing countries’ relative technological performance. Focusing on PCT patent applications for a sample of 16 Mediterranean countries over the period 1995 to 2010, we develop a dynamic model in which countries’ relative technological performance is depending on the capacity of innovative actors and ‟knowledge infrastructure” to exploit internal technological capabilities and to explore external sources of technological knowledge by patents (ambidexterity). The results of our estimations show that Mediterranean countries’ patent performances significantly explain their relative technological performances. Estimations provide also evidence that for this group of countries, relative technological performance depends on technological knowledge absorption capacities.