 Patent portfolio diversity and firm profitability: A question of specialization or diversification?Francesco P. Appio, Luigi M. De Luca, Robert Morgan and Antonella Martini Journal of Business Research, 2019, vol. 101, issue C, 255-267 Abstract: The relationship between patent portfolio diversity and firm profitability is conceptually opaque and empirically equivocal. We contribute to the literature with a systematic analysis of this relationship by carrying out an empirical investigation based on a sample of 391 international firms. We generate data for patent portfolio diversity at the level of sections, classes, and sub-classes of the International Patent Classification. As moderators of this relationship, we test non-self forward citations (revealing a stream of knowledge between the firm and the outside) and non-self backward citations (assessing the firm's absorptive capacity). Findings highlight how the relationship between patent portfolio diversity and profitability is non-linear and differentially moderated by both the level of non-self forward and backward citations. Accordingly, implications for theory development and managerial decision making are discussed. Keywords: Patent portfolio; Diversity; Performance; Forward citations; Backward citations (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:101:y:2019:i:c:p:255-267 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.04.020 Access Statistics for this article Journal of Business Research is currently edited by A. G. Woodside More articles in Journal of Business Research from Elsevier |
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