Innovation through Patents and Intangible Assets: Effects on Growth and Profitability of European Companies
ABSTRACT: Innovation is widely considered one of the most important drivers for firm growth in the contemporary economy. However, the ‘elusive’ as well as heterogeneous nature of innovation has generated a lively debate among scholars with regards to the best metrics to capture its features and effe...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2021-12-01
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| Series: | Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market and Complexity |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2199853122001603 |
| _version_ | 1797391892033306624 |
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| author | Emanuel Bagna Enrico Cotta Ramusino Stefano Denicolai |
| author_facet | Emanuel Bagna Enrico Cotta Ramusino Stefano Denicolai |
| author_sort | Emanuel Bagna |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | ABSTRACT: Innovation is widely considered one of the most important drivers for firm growth in the contemporary economy. However, the ‘elusive’ as well as heterogeneous nature of innovation has generated a lively debate among scholars with regards to the best metrics to capture its features and effects. Often, this has led to a reliance on R&D and/or patent-related measures. We contribute to this debate by pushing forward the idea that a positive effect of investing in intangibles like patents can’t be taken for granted, since it is significantly influenced by the way a firm’s portfolio of patents is created, assembled, and renewed over time. Starting from a sample of 6677 observations derived from a sample of listed European companies with patents and intangibles booked in their financial statements, this study sheds a new light on how a company creates, composes, and renews over time their portfolio of intangibles, with specific attention on patents. In particular, this contribution discusses the different effects that emerge by making a distinction among different forms of patents, considering two dimensions: broadening vs. deepening investments, and application-specific vs. general purpose investments. We notice that as a company increases investments in intangibles and simultaneously enlarges the breadth of their range of activities, its growth becomes particularly remarkable. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T23:40:21Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-fe3c9ab6bbc5408ba697c749b65a862f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2199-8531 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T23:40:21Z |
| publishDate | 2021-12-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market and Complexity |
| spelling | doaj.art-fe3c9ab6bbc5408ba697c749b65a862f2023-12-14T05:21:12ZengElsevierJournal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market and Complexity2199-85312021-12-0174220Innovation through Patents and Intangible Assets: Effects on Growth and Profitability of European CompaniesEmanuel Bagna0Enrico Cotta Ramusino1Stefano Denicolai2Correspondence:; Department of Business and Management, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy; enrico.cottaramusino@unipv.it (E.C.R.); stefano.denicolai@unipv.it (S.D.)Department of Business and Management, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy; enrico.cottaramusino@unipv.it (E.C.R.); stefano.denicolai@unipv.it (S.D.)Department of Business and Management, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy; enrico.cottaramusino@unipv.it (E.C.R.); stefano.denicolai@unipv.it (S.D.)ABSTRACT: Innovation is widely considered one of the most important drivers for firm growth in the contemporary economy. However, the ‘elusive’ as well as heterogeneous nature of innovation has generated a lively debate among scholars with regards to the best metrics to capture its features and effects. Often, this has led to a reliance on R&D and/or patent-related measures. We contribute to this debate by pushing forward the idea that a positive effect of investing in intangibles like patents can’t be taken for granted, since it is significantly influenced by the way a firm’s portfolio of patents is created, assembled, and renewed over time. Starting from a sample of 6677 observations derived from a sample of listed European companies with patents and intangibles booked in their financial statements, this study sheds a new light on how a company creates, composes, and renews over time their portfolio of intangibles, with specific attention on patents. In particular, this contribution discusses the different effects that emerge by making a distinction among different forms of patents, considering two dimensions: broadening vs. deepening investments, and application-specific vs. general purpose investments. We notice that as a company increases investments in intangibles and simultaneously enlarges the breadth of their range of activities, its growth becomes particularly remarkable.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2199853122001603intangiblepatentsprofitability |
| spellingShingle | Emanuel Bagna Enrico Cotta Ramusino Stefano Denicolai Innovation through Patents and Intangible Assets: Effects on Growth and Profitability of European Companies Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market and Complexity intangible patents profitability |
| title | Innovation through Patents and Intangible Assets: Effects on Growth and Profitability of European Companies |
| title_full | Innovation through Patents and Intangible Assets: Effects on Growth and Profitability of European Companies |
| title_fullStr | Innovation through Patents and Intangible Assets: Effects on Growth and Profitability of European Companies |
| title_full_unstemmed | Innovation through Patents and Intangible Assets: Effects on Growth and Profitability of European Companies |
| title_short | Innovation through Patents and Intangible Assets: Effects on Growth and Profitability of European Companies |
| title_sort | innovation through patents and intangible assets effects on growth and profitability of european companies |
| topic | intangible patents profitability |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2199853122001603 |
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