The contribution of immigrant inventors to Swiss innovation
© 2020 EPFL
Our researchers Prof. Dominique Foray and PhD Student Gabriele Cristelli together with Francesco Lissoni have written a column in Le Temps.
A database constructed by Gabriele Cristelli allows to evaluate the relationship between immigration and innovation in Switzerland, using data obtained from the European Patent Office (EPO) and the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM).
A preliminary analysis of roughly 50,000 patents filed by Swiss firms between 2002 and 2015 reveals that almost 30% of inventors active in Switzerland during that period held an immigrant permit B, C, G, or L. This makes Switzerland one of the countries with the highest proportion of foreign inventors in the world.
The analysis also shows that immigrant inventors are employed by Swiss firms of different size, from corporations to SMEs and startups, which display similar foreign inventive workforce proportions. Immigrant inventors are disproportionately active in the chemical and pharmaceutical sectors, although they also contribute to inventions in other fields, such as medical devices and watch technologies.
The researchers also mention the high rate of integration of immigrant inventors: 61% of patents are co-developed with Swiss inventors.