Although freedom has been recognised as a source of growth since the beginning of modern economic thought (Adam Smith 1937) it has never before been academically tested. This is thought to be the first study that explicitly tests the impact of academic freedom on the quantity and quality of patenting activity.

The study ‘Academic Freedom and Innovation: a research note’ is based on a comprehensive country-year panel including 157 countries over the period 1900 – 2015. It measured innovation output in terms of quantity (patent applications) and quality (forward citations) and used the academic freedom index from the V-Dem Institute at the University of Gothenburg.