A Concordance between Industries and Technologies Matching the technological fields of the Patentatlas to the German Industry Classification

The Patentatlas by Greif and Schmiedl (2002) represents an important source for patent data in Germany. Its use for industry-speciï¬c studies is however problematic because the correct assignment of patent data classiï¬ed by technological ï¬elds to commonly used industry classiï¬cations is unclear. This paper presents an application-oriented approach to this issue. In using industry-speciï¬c R+D employment numbers on a regional level, an approximate concordance is developed between the 31 technological ï¬elds of the Patentatlas and 21 manufacturing industries, as deï¬ned by the German Industry Classiï¬cation.