IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jbrese/v200y2025ics0148296325003960.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The impact of biotech acquisitions on inventor productivity

Author

Listed:
  • Verginer, Luca
  • Riccaboni, Massimo

Abstract

This study explores the impact of acquisitions on the productivity and retention of inventors, which is critical for shaping effective corporate acquisition strategies and innovation management. We analyze the patenting activity of 15,318 inventors involved in 1,375 acquisitions of biotech firms from 1990 to 2010. Employing a staggered difference-in-differences approach, our findings reveal a 13.5% increase in inventor turnover and a 35% decrease in citation-weighted patent productivity subsequent to acquisitions. The decline in productivity is particularly pronounced among the remaining inventors, especially those whose expertise closely matches the technological focus of the acquired company. Conversely, experienced inventors with skills that complement the acquiring firm’s R&D focus tend to maintain or even enhance their productivity post-acquisition. These results illuminate the varied effects of acquisitions on inventor productivity and emphasize the importance of strategic alignment in planning acquisitions.

Suggested Citation

  • Verginer, Luca & Riccaboni, Massimo, 2025. "The impact of biotech acquisitions on inventor productivity," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:200:y:2025:i:c:s0148296325003960
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2025.115573
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148296325003960
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jbusres.2025.115573?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • J62 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Job, Occupational and Intergenerational Mobility; Promotion
    • O32 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Management of Technological Innovation and R&D
    • O34 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Intellectual Property and Intellectual Capital

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:200:y:2025:i:c:s0148296325003960. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jbusres .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.