Science Quality and the Value of Inventions
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Despite decades of research, the relationship between the quality of science and the value of inventions has remained unclear. We present the result of a large-scale matching exercise between the universes of 4.8 million patent families and 43 million publication records. We find a strong positive relationship between quality of scientific contributions referenced in patents and the value of the respective inventions. We rank patents by the quality of the science they are linked to. Strikingly, patents in the top decile are twice as valuable as patents in the bottom decile, which in turn are about as valuable as patents with no direct science link. We show this core result for various measures of science quality and patent value. The effect of science quality on patent value remains relevant even when science is linked indirectly, i.e., through other patents. Our findings imply that what is considered "excellent" within the science sector also leads to outstanding outcomes in the technological or commercial realm.
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