Harmonizing and Combining Large Datasets - an Application to Firm-Level Patent and Accounting Data

44 Pages Posted: 29 Mar 2010 Last revised: 24 Oct 2024

See all articles by Grid Thoma

Grid Thoma

University of Camerino

Salvatore Torrisi

Department of Economics, Management and Statistics; Bocconi University

Alfonso Gambardella

Bocconi University - Department of Management and Technology

Dominique Guellec

Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD)

Bronwyn H. Hall

University of California at Berkeley; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS); Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition

Dietmar Harhoff

Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition; Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München; Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

Date Written: March 2010

Abstract

This paper discusses methods for the harmonization and combination of large-scale patent and trademark datasets with each other and other sources of data. Dictionary- and rule-based approaches to the consolidation of applicant names in patent data are presented and shown to have both benefits and drawbacks in isolation. We combine the two methods and develop a set of rules and dictionaries to consolidate European, Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) and US patent data with firm accounting data. The resulting data encompass about 131,000 patent applicant names from 46 countries, covering 58.8 percent of EPO applications and 50.6 percent of PCT applications by business organizations during the time period from 1979 to 2008. For US data, the resulting dataset includes around 54,000 assignee names and 51.3 percent of US granted patents during approximately the same time period.

Suggested Citation

Thoma, Grid and Torrisi, Salvatore and Gambardella, Alfonso and Guellec, Dominique and Hall, Bronwyn H. and Harhoff, Dietmar, Harmonizing and Combining Large Datasets - an Application to Firm-Level Patent and Accounting Data (March 2010). NBER Working Paper No. w15851, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1578688

Grid Thoma (Contact Author)

University of Camerino ( email )

School of Sciences and Technology
Computer Science Division
Camerino, Macerata 62032
Italy

Salvatore Torrisi

Department of Economics, Management and Statistics ( email )

Piazza dell'Ateneo Nuovo, 1
Milano, Milan 20126
Italy

HOME PAGE: http://https://www.unimib.it/salvatore-torrisi

Bocconi University ( email )

Via Sarfatti, 25
Milan, MI 20136
Italy

Alfonso Gambardella

Bocconi University - Department of Management and Technology ( email )

Via Roentgen 1
Milan, MI 20136
Italy

Dominique Guellec

Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) ( email )

2 rue Andre Pascal
Paris Cedex 16, 75775
France

Bronwyn H. Hall

University of California at Berkeley ( email )

549 Evans Hall #3880
Berkeley, CA 94720-3880
United States

HOME PAGE: http://emlab.berkeley.edu/users/bhhall/index.html

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS)

7 Ridgmount Street
London, WC1E 7AE
United Kingdom

Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition

Marstallplatz 1
Munich, Bayern 80539
Germany

Dietmar Harhoff

Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition ( email )

Marstallplatz 1
Munich, Bayern 80539
Germany
+49 89 24246 550 (Phone)
+49 89 24246 599 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.ip.mpg.de

Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München ( email )

Munich, 80539
Germany

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

London
United Kingdom

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