This paper examines the relationship between Schumpeterian patterns of innovation and the generation of breakthrough inventions. Our data source for breakthrough inventions is the “R&D 100 awards” competition organized each year by the magazine Research & Development. Since 1963, this...

It is well known that not all innovations are patented, but the exact volume of innovative activities undertaken outside the coverage of patent protection and, relatedly, the actual propensity to patent an innovation in different contexts remain, to a major degree, a matter of speculation. This...

We use patent citation networks to study the dynamics of technical change in Ethernet, a standard for data communication. We first consider the evolution of the broad technological system of local area networks (LANs) and we identify the most significant inventions within the specific subfield...

With the advancement of technology and increase in its complexity, the use of external information and resources provides companies with an important competitive advantage. In addition, the university-industry relationship has received attention with increases in the importance of science....

Exploring the technological development of laser diodes from 1960 to 2000, this study examines how US and Japanese firms diverged from the same technological target to take separate evolutionary paths over time and came to be competitive in the different areas. Scrutinising the level of vertical...