Inventive Capabilities in the Division of Innovative Labor
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ARTICLE SUMMARY
Data shows that the availability of external sources of raw knowledge and finished inventions affects firms differently, depending on the firm’s size and technical capabilities.
POLICY RELEVANCE
Management growth strategies should vary depending on a firm’s characteristics.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- About half of product innovations introduced by firms based in the United States are derived from innovations external to the firm; innovation relies on a division of labor among firms.
- A firm's inventive capability includes the technical expertise that enables it to generate inventions; often, a firm’s capability is measured by the firm’s investment in research and development (R&D) and by past patenting activity.
- In a survey of U.S. manufacturing firms, firms were asked whether they had introduced a new product from 2007 to 2009, and where they had acquired the invention underlying their new product; some firms acquired inventions from external sources such as customers, R&D contractors, or universities.
- Smaller, less capable firms are about nine percent more likely to acquire inventions from outside sources than large, more capable firms.
- Low capability firms innovate mainly by commercializing inventions made by others; large, high capability firms mainly generate revenue from internal inventions.
- Increasing the external supply of fully finished inventions contributes more to innovation by less capable firms, compared to more capable firms; external fully finished inventions can substitute and compensate for the inability of firms to invent internally.
- Whether managers should seek growth through R&D depends on their firm's inventive capabilities and the availability of inventions and raw knowledge in their area.
- An external supply of raw knowledge within a given region affects innovation and imitation positively for both high and low capability firms; however, more capable firms make greater use of external raw knowledge to enhance internal inventive processes.
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About Wesley Cohen
Wesley M. Cohen is Professor of Economics and Management and the Snow Family Professor of Business Administration in the Fuqua School of Business, Duke University. He also holds secondary appointments in Duke’s Department of Economics and School of Law, is a Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research, and serves as the Faculty Director of the Fuqua School’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. Professor Cohen’s research focus is on the economics of technological change.
