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When firms tap external knowledge sources, they risk spillovers of their own internal knowledge. If the value of this potential loss and the imitation capabilities of neighboring organizations are high, fear of imitation might overshadow the benefits of openness. In such situations, firms might voluntarily reduce their use of external sources, relative to knowledge available internally. Data pertaining to 4,623 European inventions and direct information about the use of knowledge sources confirm that firms reduce their use of external, relative to internal, knowledge when they conduct costly research projects in locations characterized by high levels of absorptive capacity in a specific technology. This study also reveals fear of imitation as a mediating factor of this behavior. 1147Appendix details the sample selection and related technical issues. Econometric estimation Dependent variable and method of estimationStandard errors in parentheses. All regressions include dummies for inventor country, application year, firm SIC codes, and technological field (30 ISI-INPI-OST classes). Columns (8) and (9) indicate regions split by the oppositions variable. The excluded instruments are GOVERNMENT FUNDS and SERENDIPITY. The MOBILITY of inventors in the region is employed in specification (7) to instrument fear of imitation.

This study examines whether inventors’ past stock of inventions affects the rate at which they produce technological breakthroughs, as well as the role of organizational contingencies in moderating this effect. The breakthrough rate depends on the rate at which an inventor generates inventions and the probability that each of these inventions is a breakthrough. We argue that inventors with larger patent records generate a higher rate of inventions, but the single inventions that they generate each have a lower probability of being a breakthrough. Longitudinal data of 5,144 European inventors and fixed-effects estimation confirm these predictions and reveal that the net effect of the inventors’ stock of past inventions on the breakthrough rate is positive—that is, more established inventors display a higher rate of breakthroughs than brand-new inventors. We also confirm the role of organizational contexts in shaping inventors’ productivity. In particular, firms’ control over research and development targets lessens the advantage of established inventors with regard to the rate of breakthrough generation.

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This paper employs data from a large-scale survey (PatVal2) of inventors in Europe, the USA, and Japan who were listed in patent applications filed at the European Patent Office with priority years between 2003 and 2005. We provide evidence about the reasons for patenting and the ways in which patents are being utilized. A substantial share of patents is not used internally or for market transactions, which confirms the importance of strategic patenting. We investigate different types of unused patents -unused blocking patents and sleeping patents. We also examine the association between used and unused patents and their characteristics such as family size, scope, generality and overlapping claims, technology area, type of applicant, and the competitive environment from where these patents originate. We discuss our results and derive an agenda for future research on innovation and patent policy.