Centralization and Organization Reproduction: Ethnic Innovation in R&D Centers and Satellite Locations

William R. Kerr ()
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William R. Kerr: Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts 02163; and National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138

Organization Science, 2025, vol. 36, issue 3, 1088-1109

Abstract: We study the relationship between firm centralization and organizational reproduction in satellite locations. For decentralized firms, the ethnic compositions of inventors in satellite locations mostly resemble their host cities with little link to the inventor composition of their parent firms’ research and development headquarters. For highly centralized firms, by contrast, organizational reproduction has an explanatory power equal to half or more of the host city effect. Reproduction is strongest when a firm exhibits a hands-on approach to the satellite facility, such as cross-facility team collaboration or internal talent mobility.

Keywords: invention; patents; R&D; immigration; centralization; organizational reproduction (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:inm:ororsc:v:36:y:2025:i:3:p:1088-1109

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