Measuring Knowledge Spillovers Using Patent Citations : Evidence from Belgian Firms' Data

This paper uses qualitative response variable analysis to conduct a comprehensive study of patent citations in patents granted to Belgian corporate applicants by the United States and the European Patent Offices. The analysis uncovered different patterns of citations in patents, which belong to different industrial classes. The studied citation data provides evidence of inter- or intra-firm and inter- or intra-industry knowledge spillovers, which are quite industry specific. In the framework of R&D-cooperation-stimulating policies, our results advocate considering those differences in order to balance the effect of knowledge-spillovers-driven market incentives and direct regulation