Analyzing the nonlinear effects of firm size, profitability, and employee productivity on patent citations of the US pharmaceutical companies by using artificial neural network

This study utilized artificial neural network (ANN) to explore the nonlinear influences of firm size, profitability, and employee productivity upon patent citations of the US pharmaceutical companies. The results showed that firm size, profitability, and employee productivity of the US pharmaceutical companies had the nonlinearly and monotonically positive influences upon their patent citations. Therefore, if US pharmaceutical companies want to enhance their innovation performance, they should pay attention on their firm size, profitability, and employee productivity.