Heterogeneous Innovation over the Business Cycle

in Review of Economics and Statistics (2022)

Schumpeter (1939) claims that recessions are periods of “creative destruction,” concentrating innovation that is useful for the long-term growth of the economy. However previous research finds that ... [more ▼]

Schumpeter (1939) claims that recessions are periods of “creative destruction,” concentrating innovation that is useful for the long-term growth of the economy. However previous research finds that standard measures of firms’ innovation, such as R&D expenditures or raw patent counts, concentrate in booms. We argue that these measures do not capture shifts in firms’ innovative search strategies. We contemplate firms’ choice between exploration vs. exploitation over the business cycle and find evidence with more nuanced measures of patent characteristics that firms shift towards exploration during contractions and exploitation during expansions, with a stronger effect for firms in more cyclical industries. [less ▲]

Early Disclosure of Invention and Reduced Duplication: An Empirical Test

in Management Science (2020)

Much work on innovation strategy assumes or theorizes that competition in innovation elicits duplication of research and that disclosure decreases such duplication. We validate this empirically using the ... [more ▼]

Much work on innovation strategy assumes or theorizes that competition in innovation elicits duplication of research and that disclosure decreases such duplication. We validate this empirically using the American Inventors Protection Act (AIPA), three complementary identification strategies, and a new measure of blocked future patent applications. We show that AIPA—intended to reduce duplication, through default disclosure of patent applications 18 months after filing—reduced duplication in the U.S. and European patent systems. The blocking measure provides a clear and micro measure of technological competition that can be aggregated to facilitate the empirical investigation of innovation, firm strategy, and the positive and negative externalities of patenting. [less ▲]

Is This Time Different? How Digitalization Influences Job Creation and Destruction

in Research Policy (2019), 48(8),

With the process of digitalization now in full swing, many are wondering how the adoption of new technologies influences job creation and destruction. Much hinges upon the specific tasks that machines ... [more ▼]

With the process of digitalization now in full swing, many are wondering how the adoption of new technologies influences job creation and destruction. Much hinges upon the specific tasks that machines take on and how many new tasks are created through the adoption of new digital technologies. Some argue that most tasks that are at risk of automation are those performed by rather low- to medium-skilled employees, while most new tasks that emerge from the adoption of digital technologies complement high-skilled labor. We present evidence derived from representative survey data from Switzerland that is consistent with this view. Specifically, we find that increased investment in digitalization is associated with increased employment of high-skilled workers and reduced employment of low-skilled workers, with a slightly positive net effect. The main effects are almost entirely driven by firms that employ machine-based digital technologies, e.g. robots, 3D printing or the Internet of Things. We do not find any significant employment effects when non-machine-based digital technologies are considered, e.g. ERP, e-commerce or cooperation support systems. [less ▲]

Independent Boards and Innovation

in Journal of Financial Economics (2017), 123

Ownership Concentration, Institutional Development and Firm Performance in Central and Eastern Europe

in Managerial and Decision Economics (2017), 38

How Much Does It Cost to be a Scientist?

in Journal of Technology Transfer (2016), 41

International Financial Reporting Standards and Private Firms’ Access to Bank Loans

in European Accounting Review (2016)

Employment Growth Heterogeneity under Varying Intellectual Property Rights Regimes in European Transition Economies: Young vs. Mature Innovators

in Journal of Comparative Economics (2015), 43

Outside Directors on the Board and Innovative Firm Performance

in Research Policy (2014)

Corporate Governance and Employee Power in the Boardroom – An Applied Game Theoretic Analysis

in Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization (2013), 91