Patent portfolio diversity and firm profitability: a question of specialization or diversification?

Appio, Francesco P, De Luca, Luigi M. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2492-3075, Morgan, Robert ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8981-3144 and Martini, Antonella 2019. Patent portfolio diversity and firm profitability: a question of specialization or diversification? Journal of Business Research 101 , pp. 255-267. 10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.04.020

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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.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Business (Including Economics)
Publisher:	Elsevier
ISSN:	0148-2963
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	13 May 2019
Date of Acceptance:	14 April 2019
Last Modified:	12 Nov 2024 10:15
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/122406

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