Heterogeneity of Intellectual Assets: An Empirically Based Research Method for Identification and Measurement Using Patent Data

This paper deals with methodological issues of measuring and assessing the composition and level of heterogeneity of firms’ intellectual assets. It develops an original metric - referred to as the H-index - for measuring heterogeneity at firm level using data extracted from patent documents. The main purpose is to improve the characterization of research activities within firms in the biotechnology sector. Although the H-index grew out of research on biotech firms, the metric carries broader relevance for all patent-intensive industries. The measurement and assessment of the H-index is illustrated and tested using empirical data from our study on Scandinavian biotech firms.