演講時間：104年12月10日(星期四)下午  12:30

講    題： Innovator Sorting and Firm Size

演 講 者：Yung-Ling Chi

教    室：1館 8樓 財金系會議室

Abstract:

This paper examines the link between firm size and innovation. Given that innovation

is highly reliant on human capital, the ability to attract, motivate, and retain high quality

inventors is a key determinant of firm innovation. Firm size may affect these abilities, and

small firms are known to account for a disproportionate share of aggregate innovation. I

therefore investigate the role that sorting of inventors across firms plays in explaining this

disparity. Talented inventors may find employment at a large firm less attractive due to

the relative absence of growth options and a lower ability to link compensation to performance.

Using inventor-level patent data, I construct employment histories for inventors at

U.S. public firms. I find that the most productive inventors are disproportionately likely

to move to small firms, while the least productive inventors disproportionately remain

at large _rms. These results cannot be explained fully by small firms' superior growth

opportunities. In addition, productive innovators' turnover in small firms is sensitive to

the level of option compensation. Taken together, this evidence is consistent with inventor

sorting explaining part of the firm size innovation gap.