Examiner Added Citations and the Validity of US Patent Data in Studying EMNC Knowledge Flows

Abstract

Patent and citation data have contributed significantly to advancing our understanding of contemporary MNCs with geographically dispersed competence-creating subsidiaries. Whereas multinationals from emerging economies (EMNCs) have recently started and accelerated strategic asset seeking foreign direct investments abroad, empirical analyses of EMNCs have been a challenge because of the absence of systematic and consistent data. This study focuses on the impacts of patent examiner added citations on the validity of patent citations in measuring EMNC subsidiary knowledge inflows. The US patents of leading innovation-oriented EMNCs from China and India between 2002 and 2014 are analyzed, with a benchmark group of their major competitors from mature industrialized countries. We find that the values of subsidiary knowledge inflow variables in the current study are not significantly distorted by examiner added citations, and that the subsidiary knowledge inflow variables of EMNCs and their counterparts from mature industrialized countries are not differently impacted by examiner added citations. This study offers the validity evidence of employing the US patent and citation data to study EMNCs, contributing to a solution addressing the issue of lacking longitudinal and systematic data in studying EMNCs. The results also contribute to patent economics literature in general by testing the impacts of examiner added citations on citation measures of knowledge flows.