Filling the Gap: Firm Strategies for Human Capital Loss

Matthias Dorner, Fabian Gaessler, Dietmar Harhoff, Karin Hoisl, Felix Pöge

Publikation: Bidrag til bog/antologi/rapportKonferenceabstrakt i proceedingsForskningpeer review

Abstract

This paper explores how the premature death of an inventor affects the productivity and career trajectories of co-inventors. To this end, we develop and analyze a dataset covering the careers of 152,350 German inventors. The data combine highly precise employer-employee data from official social security registers with patent office information covering the period from 1980-2014. Departing from 799 registered premature deaths of inventors and the same number of matched inventors, we study how co-inventors were affected by the death of their peers. Using a difference-in-differences and an event study design, we investigate the reaction of the co-inventors' patenting activities, career advancement and job mobility. Using a number of measures and robustness checks, our results show that the premature death of a co-inventor reduces the productivity of the surviving co-inventors. The effect sets in immediately and survivors do not seem to recover from the shock in the five years following. We argue that employers will seek to retain co-inventors under certain conditions in order to continue lines of research and invention. The empirical results confirm our expectations: surviving inventors are significantly less likely to move to a different employer and are more likely to be promoted compared to inventors in the control group. These effects seem to diminish after about two years.
OriginalsprogEngelsk
TitelProceedings of the Eightieth Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management
RedaktørerGuclu Atinc
Antal sider5
UdgivelsesstedBriarcliff Manor, NY
ForlagAcademy of Management
Publikationsdato2020
Artikelnummer171
DOI
StatusUdgivet - 2020
BegivenhedThe Academy of Management Annual Meeting 2020: Broadening Our Sight - Virtual
Varighed: 7 aug. 202011 aug. 2020
Konferencens nummer: 80
https://aom.org/events/annual-meeting/past-annual-meetings/2020-broadening-our-sight

Konference

KonferenceThe Academy of Management Annual Meeting 2020
Nummer80
LokationVirtual
Periode07/08/202011/08/2020
Internetadresse
NavnAcademy of Management Proceedings
ISSN2151-6561

Citationsformater