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Technological gatekeepers, regional inventor networks and inventive performance

Author

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  • Julie Le Gallo

    (AgroSup Dijon - Institut National Supérieur des Sciences Agronomiques, de l'Alimentation et de l'Environnement)

  • Anne Plunket

    (BETA - Bureau d'Économie Théorique et Appliquée - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - UNISTRA - Université de Strasbourg - UL - Université de Lorraine - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

Abstract

The paper investigates, in a regional context, the impact of gatekeepers on the quality of inventions at the patent team level based on a social network analysis. Given the lack of consensus in the literature, we explore two definitions of gatekeepers and distinguish their impact from external stars. Our results show that gatekeepers indeed influence the quality of the patents to which they participate. However, the quality of their patents is reduced if gatekeepers and their team members are located in the same region compared to multi-location teams and this holds for both definitions. External stars do not contribute to inventive quality even if they work within multi-location teams. Finally, inventor teams benefit from socially close gatekeepers located within their region, even if they have no gatekeepers within their team.

Suggested Citation

  • Julie Le Gallo & Anne Plunket, 2016. "Technological gatekeepers, regional inventor networks and inventive performance," Working Papers hal-01422916, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-01422916
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-01422916
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Keywords

    Teams; Global pipelines; Inventor networks; Technological gatekeepers; Patent quality;
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