ABSTRACT

Regional science has long been concerned with measuring the spatial distribution of innovation activity. We introduce trademarks as a new indicator for regional innovation and argue that they are particularly useful to measure the ‘soft’ side of innovation that is difficult to capture with conventional indicators. We explore the spatial distribution of trademarks using a detailed and comprehensive dataset of 47 Japanese prefectures from 1999 to 2012. In addition to mapping differences in trademarking across regions, we identify correlates at the regional level that provide insights into determinants of regional innovation measured via trademarks. For example, regional trademark activity positively correlates with population density, income per capita, entrepreneurship rate, the number of universities, and strong private service and finance sectors. Overall, the results reveal associations unique to trademarks that other measures of innovation cannot uncover. Our findings contribute to research in regional science and the evolving literature on trademarks.

摘要

长期以来，区域科学一直关注衡量创新活动的空间分布。我们将商标作为区域创新的新指标引入，并认为它们对于衡量传统指标难以捕捉的创新“软”方面特别有用。我们使用 1999 年至 2012 年日本 47 个县的详细而全面的数据集来探索商标的空间分布。除了绘制跨地区商标的差异之外，我们还确定了区域层面的相关性，这些相关性提供了对通过商标衡量的区域创新决定因素的见解. 例如，区域商标活动与人口密度、人均收入、创业率、大学数量以及强大的私营服务和金融部门正相关。总体而言，结果揭示了其他创新措施无法发现的商标特有的关联。我们的研究结果有助于区域科学的研究和不断发展的商标文献。