New operational definitions of incremental innovation, standard innovation, and radical innovation, are constructed using our ‘technometric benchmarking’ model. Based on this definition, optimal incremental innovation is formulated as a linear programming problem. The model is illustrated by...

The basic juridical problems of patents are explained in order to identify systematic restrictions of the legal protection and thus of patent indicators. The analysis focuses on patents for plants and animals as a central part of innovations in agro-related biotechnology. A statistical...

How efficiently do countries translate scientific and technological excellence into export comparative advantage? Here the use of science and technology in generating exports is first modelled as a two-stage process. A variant of linear programming (data envelopment analysis, DEA) is then...

In economic, scientometric and innovation research, often so-called specialization indices are used. These indices measure comparative strengths or weaknesses as well as specialization profiles of the observation units with respect to certain criteria, such as patenting and publication or trade...

This paper outlines a new approach to defining research priorities at a regional level. The methodical approach relies on a combination of bibliometric indicators and qualitative data and aims at the identification, selection and evaluation of medium-term relevant research fields. This type of...

A structural analysis of the German economy is complemented by an analysis of the potential which is maybe not yet ready for economic use. Germany's science and research systems have great potential which industries have not yet used. The structural link between Germany's innovation and science...

Search theory which originated from operations research was first introduced into microeconomics in the 1960s. Typical applications are the commodities' markets, investment fields or labour markets. Search theory can replace the model of frictionless transactions between purchasers and suppliers...

This paper considers the innovation dynamics in OECD countries since the beginning of the 1990s. Special attention is given to German firms that had the exceptional opportunity and burden to develop an innovative regime in the former GDR. The economic slump in the new decade had everywhere a...

High technology is not a well-defined issue in economics. In this paper, it is divided into very high R&D-intensive, so-called 'leading-edge', and 'high-level' technology, i.e. above-average R&D-intensive products. The similarity of exports and imports in both subdivisions of high technology is...