Taste for science, academic boundary spanning, and inventive performance of scientists and engineers in industry

Sam Arts and Reinhilde Veugelers

Industrial and Corporate Change, 2020, vol. 29, issue 4, 917-933

Abstract: Matching survey data on PhD scientists and engineers currently working in an R&D job in industry with publications and patents, we study the relation between their individual motives and the rate and nature of their inventive output. We find that individuals with a strong taste for science, that is motivated by intellectual challenge, autonomy, and contribution to society, create more novel and impactful patents in industry. These individuals are also more involved in academic boundary spanning, proxied by scientific publications co-authored with academic scientists, and this boundary spanning partially mediates the effect of taste for science on impactful inventive output. In contrast, individuals with a strong taste for salary and career collaborate less with academic scientists, fully mediating the negative effect of taste for salary and career on impactful inventive output.

JEL-codes: O31 O32 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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Working Paper: Taste for Science, Academic Boundary Spanning and Inventive Performance of Scientists and Engineers in Industry (2018)
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