Does it pay to stand on the shoulders of giants? An analysis of the inventions of star inventors in the biotechnology sector

Hohberger, JS

Does it pay to stand on the shoulders of giants? An analysis of the inventions of star inventors in the biotechnology sector

Hohberger, JS

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Publisher:: Elsevier
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Research Policy, 2016, 45 pp. 682 - 698
Issue Date:: 2016-01-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Hohberger, JS	en_US
dc.date.available	2015-12-06	en_US
dc.date.issued	2016-01-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Research Policy, 2016, 45 pp. 682 - 698	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	0048-7333	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/122452
dc.description.abstract	Previous research has highlighted the importance of star inventors for invention success and firm performance. However, we have limited knowledge regarding the indirect influence of star inventors on knowledge generation and how the ideas of star inventors influence subsequent invention performance.Therefore, this study uses biotechnology patents to investigate the extent to which star inventors influence the value of subsequent inventions. It explores whether non-star inventors can build, just as successfully, on the ideas of star inventors as star inventors. The results show that having a star directly involved in the generation of an invention, and building upon other star invention/s, is positively related to invention performance. However, stars are not better than non-stars at building upon earlier star inventions, and in fact, stars building upon their own, previous, inventions negatively affects the out-come/s of their future inventions. Furthermore, these results hold true for both general and high-value inventions. Overall, this study highlights the importance of stars in cumulative knowledge generation,but also shows the limits of self-referencing and individual path-dependency.	en_US
dc.publisher	Elsevier	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Research Policy	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Science Studies	en_US
dc.title	Does it pay to stand on the shoulders of giants? An analysis of the inventions of star inventors in the biotechnology sector	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	45	en_US
utslib.for	1503 Business and Management	en_US
utslib.for	1505 Marketing	en_US
utslib.for	1402 Applied Economics	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Business
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access
pubs.consider-herdc	true	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Accepted	en_US
pubs.volume	45	en_US

Abstract:

Previous research has highlighted the importance of star inventors for invention success and firm performance. However, we have limited knowledge regarding the indirect influence of star inventors on knowledge generation and how the ideas of star inventors influence subsequent invention performance.Therefore, this study uses biotechnology patents to investigate the extent to which star inventors influence the value of subsequent inventions. It explores whether non-star inventors can build, just as successfully, on the ideas of star inventors as star inventors. The results show that having a star directly involved in the generation of an invention, and building upon other star invention/s, is positively related to invention performance. However, stars are not better than non-stars at building upon earlier star inventions, and in fact, stars building upon their own, previous, inventions negatively affects the out-come/s of their future inventions. Furthermore, these results hold true for both general and high-value inventions. Overall, this study highlights the importance of stars in cumulative knowledge generation,but also shows the limits of self-referencing and individual path-dependency.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/122452