Localization of Knowledge and the Mobility of Engineers in Regional Networks
Management Science
Overcoming Local Search Through Alliances and Mobility
Management Science
Who Is Selling the Ivory Tower? Sources of Growth in University Licensing
Management Science
Links and Impacts: The Influence of Public Research on Industrial R&D
Management Science
Putting Patents in Context: Exploring Knowledge Transfer from MIT
Management Science
Collaborative Networks as Determinants of Knowledge Diffusion Patterns
Management Science
Recruiting for Ideas: How Firms Exploit the Prior Inventions of New Hires
Management Science
Hi-index | 0.01 |
This paper assesses the validity and accuracy of firms' backward patent citations as a measure of knowledge flows from public research by employing a newly constructed data set that matches patents to survey data at the level of the research and development lab. Using survey-based measures of the dimensions of knowledge flows, we identify sources of systematic measurement error associated with backward citations to both patent and nonpatent references. We find that patent citations reflect the codified knowledge flows from public research, but they appear to miss knowledge flows that are more private and contract based in nature, as well as those used in firm basic research. We also find that firms' patenting and citing strategies affect patent citations, making citations less indicative of knowledge flows. In addition, an illustrative analysis examining the magnitude and direction of measurement error bias suggests that measuring knowledge flows with patent citations can lead to substantial underestimation of the effect of public research on firms' innovative performance. Throughout our analyses we find that nonpatent references e.g., journals, conferences, etc., not the more commonly used patent references, are a better measure of knowledge originating from public research. This paper was accepted by Lee Fleming, entrepreneurship and innovation.