A regional comparison of enterprise patent holdings: A study of British and Irish data

We present findings of an analysis of data on firms located in South West England, Wales, Scotland and the Republic of Ireland-regions of varying political and economic autonomy. The information relates to patent publications since 1983, obtained from searches at the UK and Irish Patent Offices, employment, sector of business and headquarters location. Regional imputations are according to holders' rather than inventors' addresses and issues arising from this are discussed. Descriptive statistics and regressions suggest that overall levels of activity are weakest in Ireland (contrary to its 'tiger' image); that firms owned outside the region make little contribution to regional patent stocks; and that patenting activity rises monotonically with firm size.