Innovatie en economie - Economic measures of innovation
5 important questions on Innovatie en economie - Economic measures of innovation
How can you measure something like innovation that you cannot properly measure?
Name three possible economic measures of innovation.
2. R&D expenditure as a percentage of sales
3. Number of new products
What are the advantages, limitations and implications of the economic measure "Number of patents, per employee or over time"?
- Data are readily available and can be analysed by industrial sector, country, etc.
- Useful (but not complete) measure of performance in research laboratories.
Limitations:
- Patents are a measure if invention, not of innovation
- Some companies chose not to apply for patents, as it is time-consuming and does not always offer good protection
- Patents are not of equal value. Many are effectively worthless
Implications:
- It is useful to monitor the contents of patents filed by competitors
- Patent counts are used as an indication of a knowledge base in mergers and acquisitions
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What are the advantages, limitations and implications of the economic measure "R&D expenditure as a percentage of sales"?
- Data on investment levels are normally published in company annual reports
- Widely used
Limitations:
- An "input" measure, rather than a measure of result
Implications:
- R&D spend of comparable competitors is a useful benchmar
What are the advantages, limitations and implications of the economic measure "Number of new products"?
- Is a measure of the output of R&D (but not strictly of innovation, unless product success is considered)
- Can include innovations sourced externally
Limitations:
- The meaning of 'new product' is equivocal (for example six different degrees of product innovation)
- Seldom available externally so comparisons with others are not easy
Implications:
- Need to carefully define what counts as a new product
- Few companies use this measure to check the performance of their competitors
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