Basic Statistics on the Success Rate and Profits for Independent Inventors

Thomas Ã…stebro
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Thomas Astebro

Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 1998, vol. 23, issue 2, 41-48

Abstract: 1,095 responses were received from a telephone survey of independent inventors. The majority of inventors surveyed (89%) are male, and a plurality of their inventions are designed for consumer products (47%). Conditional on commercializing their invention, and at development costs about 1/8 of those in established firms, inventive efforts by independent inventors lead to gains virtually comparable to those of established firms. Their innovations survive for about as long as the average start-up. Gross profit margins are comparable to the pharmaceutical industry (29%). However, only a small fraction of inventions developed by independent inventors reach the market (6.5%). The probability of reaching the market is four to eight times less than for inventions developed by established firms. Why do only a fraction of inventions developed by independent inventors become commercialized when those that do commercialize are quite profitable and survive for as long as other start-ups?

Date: 1998
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:entthe:v:23:y:1998:i:2:p:41-48

DOI: 10.1177/104225879802300203

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