Innovation and profitability in a population of Italian listed companies during a time of crisis

The analysis examines the relationship between the number of patents registered and the trend of performance indicators, such as turnover and return on invested capital (ROI), in a population Italian listed companies. Although the results do not identify a precise trend for the entire sample, regular behaviours appear: with the approaching crisis, a high reduction in the average number of patents and a worse performance are recorded. Nevertheless, with reference to these trends, no positive relationship between the two variables was identified