Publications

2009
Working Paper

Breakthrough Inventions and Migrating Clusters of Innovation

By: William R. Kerr

We investigate the speed at which clusters of invention for a technology migrate spatially following breakthrough inventions. We identify breakthrough inventions as the top one percent of US inventions for a technology during 1975-1984 in terms of subsequent citations.... View Details

Keywords: Geographic Location; Immigration; Disruptive Innovation; Technological Innovation; Patents; Industry Clusters; United States

SSRN

January 2014
Article

The Consequences of Entrepreneurial Finance: Evidence from Angel Financings

By: William R. Kerr, Josh Lerner and Antoinette Schoar

This paper documents that ventures that are funded by two successful angel groups experience superior outcomes to rejected ventures: they have improved survival, exits, employment, patenting, web traffic, and financing. We use strong discontinuities in angel funding... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Financing and Loans; Interests; Employment; Patents; Internet and the Web; Operations; Entrepreneurship; Business Exit or Shutdown

2011
Working Paper

Managing Political Risk in Global Business: Beiersdorf 1914-1990

By: Geoffrey Jones and Christina Lubinski

This working paper examines corporate strategies of political risk management during the twentieth century. It focuses especially on Beiersdorf, a German-based pharmaceutical and skin care company. During World War I the expropriation of its brands and trademarks... View Details

Keywords: History; Risk Management; Business History; Multinational Firms and Management; Corporate Strategy; Intellectual Property; Cooperation; Business and Government Relations; Germany

September 2007
Article

Collaborative Brokerage, Generative Creativity, and Creative Success

Analyzing data on utility patents from 1975 to 2002 in the careers of 35,400 collaborative inventors, this study examines the influence of brokered versus cohesive collaborative social structures on an individual's creativity. We test the hypothesis that... View Details

Keywords: Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Patents; Personal Development and Career; Creativity; Power and Influence; Social and Collaborative Networks

Find at Harvard

Web

SPACE: Space, Public and Commercial Economics - Course Catalog

the Market Class session 12: Planetary Resources: Property Rights in Space Summary: The founders of Planetary Resources wanted to give humanity access to the entire solar system’s resources and energy, not... View Details

March 2017 (Revised February 2025)
Case

Edwin Land: The Art and Science of Innovation

By: Tom Nicholas, Christopher T. Stanton and Matthew G. Preble

Throughout the second half of the 20th century, Polaroid first invented—and then continuously reinvented—the field of instant photography. Under the leadership of its mercurial founder Edwin Land, the company regularly released new instant cameras and films, often... View Details

Keywords: Instant Photography; Company History; Change Management; Disruption; Forecasting and Prediction; Entrepreneurship; Business History; Innovation Strategy; Disruptive Innovation; Innovation and Management; Intellectual Property; Patents; Product Marketing; Brands and Branding; Product Launch; Product Development; Chemical Industry; Consumer Products Industry; United States

Educators

Profile

Ann Chao

Why was earning your MBA at HBS important to you? First, I was drawn to the application-based nature of the MBA degree. My college experience was heavy on social theory and deep intellectual debate, which gave me a solid foundation to... View Details

Keywords: Entertainment / Media

01 Mar 2011
News

On the Outside at HBS

legal nonprofit. I quickly learned, however, that my accomplishments did not shield me from feeling like an outsider during my RC year. HBS Dean Nitin Nohria was right when he recently said that even in a community that can pride itself... View Details

April 2010
Teaching Note

Carrot or Stick? Getting Paid for Innovation at Tessera Technologies (TN)

By: Willy C. Shih

Teaching Note for 610085. View Details

Keywords: Patents; Production; Situation or Environment; Law Enforcement; Lawsuits and Litigation; Information Technology; Growth and Development; Innovation and Invention; Technology Industry; Semiconductor Industry

Web

Eligibility | New Venture Competition

responsibility to respect their intellectual property and to treat any information received from them as confidential. For EC Students Multiple students in multiple courses working on the same project... View Details

01 Dec 2018
News

Researching Business and Politics in China and Southeast Asia

Chinese Capitalism, Rithmire examined urbanization, land politics, and property rights in China. She is now exploring how both the government’s goals and the flight of capital figure into China’s increasing... View Details

10 Nov 2008
What Do You Think?

How Much Can You Ask of Your Customers?

over-involvement (of) customers have led to bitter intellectual property right disputes customers simultaneously trying to drive the product in two (or more) very separate... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

01 Jun 2013
News

The Long View

every stage they work with a network of policymakers and practitioners, who contribute feedback on the relevance and potential impact of the research. Developing this approach has been a process of looking at how to translate phenomenal View Details

December 2009 (Revised December 2012)
Case

Sony and the JK Wedding Dance

By: John Deighton and Leora Kornfeld

Executives at Sony Music Entertainment faced a dilemma: a user-generated video featuring controversial artist Chris Brown's music was netting millions of views per week on YouTube. Sony held the copyright to the song, and was entitled to issue a takedown notice to the... View Details

Keywords: Music Entertainment; Copyright; Marketing Strategy; Consumer Behavior; Network Effects; Social and Collaborative Networks; Internet; Music Industry

Educators

01 Oct 2002
News

The Class of 1977

surprise “Keep America Rolling” zero-percent financing campaign on GM vehicles to keep GM's, and its suppliers', production lines rolling in the face of an unprecedented national crisis. Rick's quick and decisive action against conventional wisdom did View Details

Keywords: Desmond Wong

September 2023
Teaching Note

Nexleaf Analytics: Saving the World Using the Internet of Things

By: Frank Nagle

Teaching Note for HBS Case 722-414. View Details

Keywords: Corporate Strategy; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Technological Innovation; Nonprofit Organizations; Competitive Strategy; Patents; Expansion; Information Technology; Health Industry; Information Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Technology Industry

Article

Lone Inventors as Sources of Technological Breakthroughs: Myth or Reality?

Are lone inventors more or less likely to invent breakthroughs? Recent research has attempted to resolve this question by considering the variance of creative outcome distributions. It has implicitly assumed a symmetric thickening or thinning of both tails, i.e., that... View Details

Keywords: Experience and Expertise; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Independent Innovation and Invention; Patents; Groups and Teams; Creativity