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Invention Value, Inventive Capability and the Large Firm Advantage

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  • Ashish Arora
  • Wesley M. Cohen
  • Honggi Lee
  • Divya Sebastian

Abstract

Do large firms produce more valuable inventions, and if so, why? After confirming that large firms indeed produce more valuable inventions, we consider two possible sources: a superior ability to invent, or a superior ability to extract value from their inventions. We develop a simple model that discriminates between the two explanations. Using a sample of 2,786 public corporations, and measures of both patent quality and patent value, we find that, while average invention value rises with size, average invention quality declines, suggesting, per our model, that the large firm advantage is not due to superior inventive capability, but due to the superior ability to extract value. We provide evidence suggesting that this superior ability to extract value is due to greater commercialization capabilities of larger firms.

Suggested Citation

  • Ashish Arora & Wesley M. Cohen & Honggi Lee & Divya Sebastian, 2022. "Invention Value, Inventive Capability and the Large Firm Advantage," NBER Working Papers 30354, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:30354
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    2. Michele Battisti & Filippo Belloc & Massimo Del Gatto, 2023. "COVID-19, Innovative Firms and Resilience," WIPO Economic Research Working Papers 73, World Intellectual Property Organization - Economics and Statistics Division.
    3. Lee, Honggi, 2023. "The heterogeneous effects of patent scope on licensing propensity," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(3).
    4. Kox, Henk L.M., 2023. "Testing an extended knowledge-capital model of foreign direct investment," MPRA Paper 117266, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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    More about this item

    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
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
    • O34 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Intellectual Property and Intellectual Capital

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