Evaluating and Comparing the innovation performance of the United States and the European Union

The present report aims at evaluating and comparing the innovation performance of the United States and the European Union. In particular, bearing in mind the subtleties entailed by innovation measurements, we discuss the European comparative performance in terms of scientific output, proxies for technological innovation, and actual production and export in those lines of business which draw more directly on scientific advances. The general message of our analysis can be summarized as follows. Certainly one observes significant differences across scientific and technological fields, but it happens that Europe has structural lags in top level science and innovative performance vis-`a-vis the US, together with some points of strength in physical sciences and engineering. At the same time, one also finds ample evidence of a widespread European corporate weakness, notwithstanding major success stories.