Knowledge that Transforms

This study examines pharmaceutical research from a bibliometric perspective. It finds that there are bibliometric correlates of successful pharmaceutical research, in particular, the number and proportion of star (highly cited) clinical medical articles. The research also reveals that pharmaceutical company research reported in basic biomedical research journals is very highly cited, on a par with NIH supported medical school research. The policy implications of this are discussed. In addition, the pharmaceutical output (approved new drugs)/input (R&D budget) measures developed permit a ranking and characterization of the research performance of 24 major pharmaceutical companies.

Case histories were compiled of 100 instances of technological change in 102 manufacturing companies in eight industries in Ireland, Spain and Mexico. The cases are analyzed for the source of initial ideas and for sources of technology employed in resolving major problems. Technology is found to flow principally through informal channels within industries. Very little information was obtained from the formal mechanisms or institutions normally considered central to the technology transfer process. Foreign subsidiaries obtain the greatest proportion of their technology from their parent firms. Surprisingly, they are found to have several channels of technology blocked to them, which are more readily available to domestic firms. Domestic firms, in many ways have easier access to foreign technology than do the subsidiaries of multinational firms. Product and process innovations originate in somewhat different quarters. Process innovations are slightly more likely to be based on foreign technology; product innovations are more likely to be based on domestic technology. The results reported in the present paper are very similar in many ways to results reported previously in Brazil and Australia.