Measuring science-technology interaction in the knowledge-driven economy

This paper addresses the issue of how science-technology interaction can be measured in the knowledge-driven economy. More specifically, it compares the patent citation indicator to other patent or publication-based measures using data on a small European economy. In particular, patent citation patterns are compared at the country level to researcher patents. The analysis points to differences in the intensity to which the two approaches link scientific research to technological development. Potential explanations are discussed. Academic patenting appears to be a more inclusive indicator also pointing to human resource flows while patent citations of scientific literature seem to occur mostly infields in which scientists make core contributions to national inventive activity.