The Technological Balance of Payments (TBP) measures the invisible transactions of a country's balance of payments concerning technological trade: patents, inventions, licences, know-how, trademarks, patterns and designs, services with a technological content such as technical assistance, engineering, training of personnel, R&D services and technology exchange.

The data of Italy's TBP are collected by the Italian Exchange Office (UIC) and show its characteristics both in its trends and in its relationships with other countries.

The ratio between payments for the purchase of technology and R&D expenditures (Table 9.2) measures the flow of purchased technology over that autonomously generated. The ratio between TBP balance and R&D expenditure (Figure 9.3) shows the kind of transactions in which a country's technology is more (positive balance) or less (negative balance) competitive.

Figures 9.5 and 9.6, with international comparisons, come from an OECD source and Figure 9.7 from EUROSTAT. The last figure focuses on the amount of the exchanges of technology.

9. Technological Balance of Payments

Tbl. 9.2 - Ratio between payments for purchase of technology and R&D expenditure in Italy, 1992 and 2005
Fig. 9.3 - The balance of TBP over R&D expenditure in Italy, 1992 and 2005
Fig. 9.5 - Payments of TBP over R&D expenditure in several OECD countries, 1992 and 2005
Fig. 9.6 - The balance of TBP in several OECD countries, 1992 and 2005
Fig. 9.7 - The balance of TBP over GDP in some European countries, 2005