In the second half of the 20th century, the US enjoyed pre-eminence ...

Normalized publications and GDP per capita
1.2
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
US OECD Japan China
Publications per capita
GDP per capita (PPP)
GDP per capita (MER)
Figure 2. Comparison of Publications and GDP per Capita (normalized to United States) 10
Figure 2 suggests that the normalized publication output correlates with the normalized GDP per
capita and that the PPP method of calculating the GDP per capita provides a slightly better
correlation than does the MER method. The latter point may be peculiar to the year chosen for
comparison, or it may indicate that the PPP method provides a better measure of the standard of
living of an economy and that the standard of living underlies an economy’s ability to sustain the
infrastructure needed to generate S&T knowledge.
Regarding patent productivity, Figure 3 displays trilateral patents 11 per million population for
several economically advanced countries and the total for OECD countries normalized to the
United States for 2007. China is not a significant player in the trilateral patent arena but is
included for comparison.
10 OECD Science, Technology, and Industry Outlook 2010.
11 Trilateral Patent Offices; see http://www.trilateral.net/about.html.
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