Glossary


Definitions

Commercial knowledge-intensive (KI) services: Knowledge-intensive services that are generally privately owned and compete in the marketplace without public support. These services are business, information, and financial services.

Company or firm: A business entity that is either in a single location with no subsidiaries or branches or the topmost parent of a group of subsidiaries or branches.

European Union (EU): The EU comprises 28 member nations: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. Unless otherwise noted, data on the EU include all 28 nations.

Foreign direct investment: Financial investment by which a person or an entity acquires a lasting interest in and a degree of influence over the management of a business enterprise in a foreign country.

Gross domestic product (GDP): The market value of all final goods and services produced within a country within a given period of time.

High-technology manufacturing industries: Industries formerly classified by the OECD that spend a high proportion of their revenue on R&D. These industries consist of aerospace; pharmaceuticals; computers and office machinery; semiconductors and communications equipment; and measuring, medical, navigation, optical, and testing instruments.

Information and communications technologies (ICT) industries: A subset of knowledge- and technology-intensive industries, consisting of two high-technology manufacturing industries, computers and office machinery and communications equipment and semiconductors, and two knowledge-intensive services industries, information and computer services, which is a subset of business services.

Intellectual property: Intangible property resulting from creativity that is protected in the form of patents, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets.

Intra-EU exports: Exports from European Union (EU) countries to other EU countries.

Knowledge- and technology-intensive (KTI) industries: Those industries that have a particularly strong link to science and technology. These industries are five service industries—financial, business, communications, education, and health care; five high-technology manufacturing industries—aerospace; pharmaceuticals; computers and office machinery; semiconductors and communications equipment; and measuring, medical, navigation, optical, and testing instruments; and five medium-high-technology industries—motor vehicles and parts, chemicals excluding pharmaceuticals, electrical machinery and appliances, machinery and equipment, and railroad and other transportation equipment.

Knowledge-intensive services industries: Those industries that incorporate science, engineering, and technology into their services or the delivery of their services, consisting of business, information, education, financial, and health care.

Medium-high-technology manufacturing industries: Industries formerly classified by the OECD that spend a relatively high proportion of their revenue on R&D. These industries consist of motor vehicles and parts, chemicals excluding pharmaceuticals, electrical machinery and appliances, machinery and equipment, and railroad and other transportation equipment.

Productivity: The efficiency with which resources are employed within an economy or industry, measured as labor or multifactor productivity. Labor productivity is measured by gross domestic product (GDP) or output per unit of labor. Multifactor productivity is measured by GDP or output per combined unit of labor and capital.

Public knowledge-intensive services: An industry category consisting of education and healthcare. These are publicly regulated or provided and remain relatively more location bound than the commercial knowledge-intensive services.

Value added: A measure of industry production that is the amount contributed by a country, firm, or other entity to the value of the good or service. It excludes the country, industry, firm, or other entity’s purchases of domestic and imported supplies and inputs from other countries, industries, firms, and other entities.

Value chain: A chain of activities to produce goods and services that may extend across firms or countries. These activities include design, production, marketing and sales, logistics, and maintenance.

Venture capital Venture capitalists manage the pooled investments of others (typically wealthy investors, investment banks, and other financial institutions) in a professionally managed fund. In return, venture capitalists receive ownership equity and almost always participate in managerial decisions.

Key to Acronyms and Abbreviations

EU: European Union

GDP: gross domestic product

GHG: greenhouse gas

HS: Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System, or Harmonized System

HT: high technology

ICT: information and communications technologies

IEA: International Energy Agency

IMF: International Monetary Fund

IoT: Internet of Things

IT: information technology

ITC: Investment Tax Credit

KI: knowledge intensive

KTI: knowledge- and technology-intensive

MHT: medium-high technology

MNC: multinational company

NAFTA: North American Free Trade Agreement

NSF: National Science Foundation

OECD: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

PTC: Production Tax Credit

R&D: research and development

RD&D: research, development, and demonstration

ROW: rest of world

S&E: science and engineering

S&T: science and technology

UK: United Kingdom

UN: United Nations

USPTO: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

WTO: World Trade Organization

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