Bridging distant technological domains: A longitudinal study of the determinants of breadth of innovation diffusion

• Published in: Research policy Vol. 47; no. 9; pp. 1713 - 1728
• Main Authors: Papazoglou, Michalis E., Spanos, Yiannis E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.11.2018
• Subjects: Breadth of diffusion; Innovation diffusion; Longitudinal analysis; Patent citations; Breadth of diffusion; Patent citations; Longitudinal analysis; Innovation diffusion
• ISSN: 0048-7333; 1873-7625
• DOI: 10.1016/j.respol.2018.06.006

•We develop and test hypotheses concerning the impact of R&D strategies on a firm’s breadth of innovation diffusion.•Scientific intensity is positively related to the breadth of innovation diffusion.•Technological collaboration positively affects the breadth of innovation diffusion.•The effect of technological diversity on the breadth of diffusion is negative.•Internal focus is irrelevant to the breadth of innovation diffusion. The diffusion of innovations is identified as an important aspect of technological and social change. Innovations diffuse through segmented networks of knowledge that limit the flow of knowledge from any one technological domain to any other. Despite this segmentation, some organizations are capable of developing pieces of knowledge that overcome these limitations. Within this context, we develop four hypotheses regarding specific R&D strategies that affect a firm’s ability to develop inventions that diffuse beyond the firm’s technological boundaries. Specifically, we examine how a firm's scientific intensity, technological collaborations, technological diversity, and internal focus impact breadth of innovation diffusion. We use two of the main determinants of innovation diffusion, namely, the relative advantage and the observability, as theoretical mechanisms to build our arguments. We empirically test our hypotheses on longitudinal data from the industries of pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, and chemicals. Our findings show that the extent to which the knowledge embedded in a firm’s inventions diffuses in distant technological areas is positively related to the firm’s scientific intensity and to its extent of collaboration, but it is negatively related to its technological diversity.