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Educational Backgrounds in Inventor Teams: The Role of Complementarities between Academic and Vocational Education in Team Performance

Author

Listed:
  • Bastian Silvester Bruestle
  • Patrick Lehnert
  • Erik Buunk
  • Uschi Backes-Gellner
  • Dietmar Harhoff

Abstract

This paper analyzes whether inventor teams composed of members with diverse educational backgrounds, both academic and vocational, exhibit higher performance than teams with the same educational backgrounds. To exploit the different educational backgrounds among patent inventors in Switzerland, we construct a unique dataset of 35,486 inventors. This dataset links individual patenting activities from European Patent Office data from 1980-2021, with detailed biographical information obtained from LinkedIn. Using a supermodularity framework to assess complementarity, we find that inventor teams composed of members with academic and vocational backgrounds (as opposed to members with the same background) achieve higher team performance, measured by the quality of their jointly filed patents. This complementarity is even stronger in teams with at least one team member from a University of Applied Sciences. Further analysis reveals heterogeneous effects across technological fields. Overall, our findings show the importance of strategically combining different educational backgrounds in inventor teams, thereby highlighting the value of maintaining a balanced educational landscape.

Suggested Citation

  • Bastian Silvester Bruestle & Patrick Lehnert & Erik Buunk & Uschi Backes-Gellner & Dietmar Harhoff, 2025. "Educational Backgrounds in Inventor Teams: The Role of Complementarities between Academic and Vocational Education in Team Performance," Economics of Education Working Paper Series 0248, University of Zurich, Department of Business Administration (IBW).
    • Handle: RePEc:iso:educat:0248
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    JEL classification:

    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions
    • I26 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Returns to Education
    • M54 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics - - - Labor Management
    • O32 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Management of Technological Innovation and R&D

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