Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/142697 
Year of Publication: 
2016
Series/Report no.: 
ZEW Discussion Papers No. 16-048
Publisher: 
Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung (ZEW), Mannheim
Abstract: 
China recently surpassed the USA as the greatest global source of patent applications. However, without internationally comparable measures of patent quality it remains questionable whether China's patent expansion constitutes the rise of a new technological superpower. Our novel quality index is based on citations from international search reports and provides internationally comparable, quality-adjusted figures for applications made under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). We show that China's patent expansion has taken place to the detriment of patent quality. Weighting national PCT counts with our index reveals a widening gap between the technological capacities of China and the leading USA.
Subjects: 
patent quality
national technological capacity
cross-country comparison
JEL: 
O32
O34
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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