Productivity among firms patenting in fourth industrial revolution technologies

This study analyses the links between patenting activity in technologies related to the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) and firms’ performance, as measured by labour productivity, multi-factor productivity, value added and employment, with a focus on companies operating in Canada. The paper provides a descriptive analysis of global patenting activity in 4IR technologies, comparing Canada vis à vis other countries. Canadian resident applicants have significantly developed innovations in 4IR technologies, but at a slower pace compared to global trends. Canadian resident innovations tend to be more original and radical. Econometric analysis is conducted using confidential firm-level data from Statistics Canada alongside matched patent-to-company data from ORBIS©. The results show that firms filing 4IR patents are larger and more productive on average. In the Canadian dataset, as firms develop new 4IR patents, they increase their relative productivity, while in both the Canada and ORBIS© samples, they increase their employment and value added relative to other firms.