Inter-firm inventor mobility and the role of co-inventor networks in producing high-impact innovation
Abstract Inter-firm mobility of inventors is a major source of embodied knowledge transfer and receiving firms enjoy additional benefits from the collaboration networks of mobile inventors. However, there is still limited understanding on how the firm can maximize the impact of incoming...
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Springer US
2021
|
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/131607 |
| _version_ | 1826209531801108480 |
|---|---|
| author | Tóth, Gergő Lengyel, Balázs |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Tóth, Gergő Lengyel, Balázs |
| author_sort | Tóth, Gergő |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Abstract
Inter-firm mobility of inventors is a major source of embodied knowledge transfer and receiving firms enjoy additional benefits from the collaboration networks of mobile inventors. However, there is still limited understanding on how the firm can maximize the impact of incoming inventors and what structure of co-inventor networks is the most beneficial for that. To answer this question, we construct a weighted and time-decayed co-inventor network from all IT-related patents in the harmonized OECD PATSTAT 1977–2010 database and analyze events of inter-firm inventor mobility. We look at the future impact of firm innovation and isolate the effect of mobile inventors’ network characteristics from the characteristics of the collaboration network in the receiving firm. Our results imply that high-impact innovations are produced if the firm hires broker inventors who have diverse networks and thus has the potential to channel a wide pool of knowledge into the firm. We find evidence that cohesive networks within the firm, measured by small world characteristics, exaggerate the effect of incoming brokers and high-impact inventors. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T14:23:57Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/131607 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T14:23:57Z |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| publisher | Springer US |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1316072023-03-15T19:14:16Z Inter-firm inventor mobility and the role of co-inventor networks in producing high-impact innovation Tóth, Gergő Lengyel, Balázs Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Abstract Inter-firm mobility of inventors is a major source of embodied knowledge transfer and receiving firms enjoy additional benefits from the collaboration networks of mobile inventors. However, there is still limited understanding on how the firm can maximize the impact of incoming inventors and what structure of co-inventor networks is the most beneficial for that. To answer this question, we construct a weighted and time-decayed co-inventor network from all IT-related patents in the harmonized OECD PATSTAT 1977–2010 database and analyze events of inter-firm inventor mobility. We look at the future impact of firm innovation and isolate the effect of mobile inventors’ network characteristics from the characteristics of the collaboration network in the receiving firm. Our results imply that high-impact innovations are produced if the firm hires broker inventors who have diverse networks and thus has the potential to channel a wide pool of knowledge into the firm. We find evidence that cohesive networks within the firm, measured by small world characteristics, exaggerate the effect of incoming brokers and high-impact inventors. 2021-09-20T17:28:56Z 2021-09-20T17:28:56Z 2019-11-12 2020-06-26T13:30:54Z Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/131607 PUBLISHER_CC en https://doi.org/10.1007/s10961-019-09758-5 Creative Commons Attribution https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ The Author(s) application/pdf Springer US Springer US |
| spellingShingle | Tóth, Gergő Lengyel, Balázs Inter-firm inventor mobility and the role of co-inventor networks in producing high-impact innovation |
| title | Inter-firm inventor mobility and the role of co-inventor networks in producing high-impact innovation |
| title_full | Inter-firm inventor mobility and the role of co-inventor networks in producing high-impact innovation |
| title_fullStr | Inter-firm inventor mobility and the role of co-inventor networks in producing high-impact innovation |
| title_full_unstemmed | Inter-firm inventor mobility and the role of co-inventor networks in producing high-impact innovation |
| title_short | Inter-firm inventor mobility and the role of co-inventor networks in producing high-impact innovation |
| title_sort | inter firm inventor mobility and the role of co inventor networks in producing high impact innovation |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/131607 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT tothgergo interfirminventormobilityandtheroleofcoinventornetworksinproducinghighimpactinnovation AT lengyelbalazs interfirminventormobilityandtheroleofcoinventornetworksinproducinghighimpactinnovation |