Inventor Location and the Globalization of R&D 1

The growing importance of the globalisation of R&D activities is evident from a large number of case studies, statistics, and analyses, both at the national and corporate level. ² Yet, it is still difficult to describe the phenomenon statistically, because systematic data which map the internationalization of R&D are still rare. Some progress has been made in using patterns of patent filings and inventor collaboration as evidence of R&D globalization, but a systematic picture of the R&D inputs used by firms has not materialized yet. Firm-level data capture R&D investments irrespective of location. The usually employed data sources such as Compustat or others do not contain any information on the geographic distribution of a firm’s R&D activities. Conversely, most of the national R&D statistics (which are then summarized by the OECD and published via, inter alia, stats.oecd.org) capture all R&D activities within national territorial boundaries, but not the R&D performed abroad by firms headquartered in the respective national territory. In some cases the agencies collecting these data have extended their questionnaires to develop a notion of the extent of international R&D activities, but there has not been any systematic measurement over time. ³