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Key inventors, teams and firm performance: The Italian case

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  • Rota, Mauro
  • Schettino, Francesco
  • Spinesi, Luca

Abstract

This paper investigates the existence and nature of knowledge-spillovers at the micro-level and, in turn, the capacity of firms to absorb new ideas generated in R&D laboratories. It evaluates the merits for a firm of attracting or retaining “key” inventors, or assembling a wide team of inventors. First, using the EPO-OECD data, we identify “key” and “normal” inventors by means of the Hill’s estimator. Then, we test the hypothesis that the presence of one “key” inventor in a firm’s R&D laboratory would have a positive effect on the Italian firms output. Our results are threefold: 1) the patent portfolio positively affects the value of production; 2) the simple presence of “key” inventors in a R&D laboratory does not significantly affect the output; 3) for a given number of patent applications by firm, a less concentrated patents distribution across inventors employed in the same R&D laboratory makes a positive impact on the production.

Suggested Citation

  • Rota, Mauro & Schettino, Francesco & Spinesi, Luca, 2017. "Key inventors, teams and firm performance: The Italian case," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 13-25.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:streco:v:42:y:2017:i:c:p:13-25
    DOI: 10.1016/j.strueco.2017.05.002
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Patents; Inventive productivity; Firm performance; Hill’s estimator;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
    • O32 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Management of Technological Innovation and R&D
    • L25 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Performance

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