Using the USPTO patent database, this study empirically unpacks the black box of the firm age effects on innovation. We directly measure a potential mediating variable, the extent of firms’ reconfiguration of R&D portfolios (which we call firms’ own R&D proximity). We find that higher R&D...

We examine how firm age relates to innovation quality, and how this relationship varies depending on the nature of technology. Using data on patents of COMPUSTAT firms, we find that firm age is negatively related to technical quality, and that this effect is greater in technologically active...

We examine how firm age relates to innovtion quality, and how this relationship varies depending on the nature of technology. Using data on patents of COMPUSTAT firms, we find that firm age is negatively related to technical quality, and that this effect is greater in technologically active...