Effects of patent indicators on national technological level: concentrated on mobile communication, network, and convergence technologies

Abstract

Several countries have invested massive amounts of R&D expenditures into convergence, mobile communication and network technologies which form the basis of modern industrial innovation. However, although R&D investment is directly related to the economic growth at the country level, whether such large-scale investment actually contributes to increasing the technological levels of countries is unclear. Thus objective evidence on whether this astronomical investment should be continued is limited. This study seeks to validate whether four patent indicators (patent activity, patent intensity, patent market power, patent citation) influence the technological levels of 11 countries (Korea, the United States, Japan, China, Germany, Finland, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden) based on patent indicators for convergence, mobile communication, and network technologies. Based on the patent indicator that influences each country, a practical model for evaluating technological-level is then proposed.