Abstract
Innovation research builds on the analysis of micro level data describing innovative behaviour of individual firms. One increasingly popular type of data are Literature-based Innovation Output (LBIO) data. These are compiled by screening specialist trade journals for new-product announcements. Notwithstanding the substantial advantages, the eligibility of LBIO data for innovation research remains controversial. In this paper the merits of LBIO data are examined by means of comparative analysis. A newly built LBIO database is systematically compared with the widely used Community Innovation Survey. It shows that both databases identify similar innovators in terms of firm size, distribution across industries and degree of innovativeness: LBIO data can be considered a fully fledged alternative to traditional innovation data, highly eligible for innovation research.
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Open Access This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0 ), which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited.
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van der Panne, G. Issues in measuring innovation. Scientometrics 71, 495–507 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-007-1691-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-007-1691-2