Fuel on the Invention Funnel : Technology Licensing-in, antecedents and invention performance

• Technology management has so far largely overlooked that licensing-in may represent learning opportunitiesfor the recipient firm. Attention has primarily been directed towards a more tactic explanation for the decisionof firms to in-license external technologies. However, increasing empirical evidence witnesses an inducingeffect of licensing-in on the inventive behavior of the single firm which, in turn, feeds its development andgrowth. The aim of this paper is to explore whether licensing-in in fact acts as a catalyst for inventive activitiespursued by licensee firms. We employ a two-part model to investigate the inventiveness of 133 licenseescompared to an equally sized matched sample of non-licensees. The study reveals that licensees exhibit elevatedinvention performances compared to non-licensee counterparts. This holds both when considering inventionin general and invention in licensed technological class.. In addition, the paper reveals that familiarity with thelicensed technology and technological specialization instigates the licensee to pursue a narrow invention strategyas defined by the technological classes of the licensed patent.

Nyckelord

Licensing

Invention

Dynamic Capabilities

Learning Opportunities

Technological familiarity

Technological specialization

Publikations- och innehållstyp

vet (ämneskategori)

kon (ämneskategori)