Radical and Incremental Innovation: The Roles of Firms, Managers, and Innovators

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Acemoglu, Daron; Akcigit, Ufuk; Celik, Murat Alp
• 署名单位: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); University of Chicago; University of Toronto
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL-MACROECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1945-7707
• DOI: 10.1257/mac.20170410
• 发表日期: 2022
• 页码: 199-249
• 关键词: growth; AGE; ORGANIZATION; KNOWLEDGE; careers

摘要

We investigate the determinants of radical (creative) innovations that break new ground in knowledge creation. We develop a model focusing on the choice between incremental and radical innovation and on how managers of different ages and human capital are sorted across firms. Firm- and patent-level evidence reveals that firms that are more open to disruption are significantly more likely to engage in radical innovation and hire younger managers and inventors with a comparative advantage in radical innovation. However, once the effect of the sorting is factored in, the (causal) impact of manager age on creative innovations, though positive, is small.