Corporate boards and outside stakeholders as determinants of environmental litigation

Each year, hundreds of firms are prosecuted for violating environmental laws and hundreds of millions of dollars in penalties are assessed. At the same time, a much larger number of firms escape the various costs associated with litigation by adhering to the provisions of the same laws and regulations. It is not a priori apparent why this dichotomy exists. In this paper we draw on corporate governance and stakeholder theories to empirically investigate environmental lawsuits. Specifically, we compare the pre‐lawsuit profile of 209 violators to a sample of matched control firms between 1994 and 1998. We find that the likelihood of becoming a lawsuit defendant increases with board size, with the fraction of directors in industrial firms, and with the fraction of inside ownership, and decreases with the number of directorships held by outside directors. These findings are robust to alternative dependent variable specifications. Together, our results suggest that managers, researchers, and policy‐makers need to direct their attention to the corporate board as the core decision‐making unit forming corporate environmental policies. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Value appropriation as an organizational capability: the case of IP protection through patents

We develop and test a theoretical framework that describes the organizational antecedents of value appropriation capabilities in the context of obtaining patent protection. We argue that intermediate levels of cross‐functional involvement across intellectual property (IP) generation, protection, and utilization activities outperform very high or very low levels of functional specialization in terms of obtaining rapid patent protection; while these activities are distinct enough to generate gains from specialization, there are also significant gains to be generated by coordinating across them, which cross‐functional involvement achieves. Using a unique dataset that combines survey and patent (application) data, and multiple estimation techniques, we test and find support for our arguments. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Reputations for toughness in patent enforcement: implications for knowledge spillovers via inventor mobility

‘Job hopping’ by engineers and scientists is widely heralded as an important channel for knowledge spillovers within industries. Far less is known, however, about the actions firms take to reduce the outward flow of knowledge through markets for skilled labor. This study investigates the efficacy of a lever that has received little research attention: corporate reputations for toughness in patent enforcement. Drawing on unique data on enforcement activity, intra‐industry inventor mobility, and patent citations in the U.S. semiconductor industry, we find that a firm's litigiousness significantly reduces spillovers otherwise anticipated from departures of employee inventors, particularly when the hiring organizations are entrepreneurial ventures. Surprisingly, the deterrent effects of patent enforcement are similar in magnitude for firms located in California, a state characterized by open norms for knowledge trading, and firms headquartered in other U.S. states. The study sheds new light on the strategic actions firms use to prevent rivals from capturing value from their investments in human capital and research and development. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The hidden costs of outsourcing: evidence from patent data

Drawing on patent data for approximately 500 firms over 20 years, we advance recent theory on firm boundaries and test these propositions for the first time. We first provide evidence for the existence of knowledge complementarities between vertically related activities in a firm's value chain by showing that firms face increasing (decreasing) performance in conducting downstream activities (i.e., patent litigation) the less (more) they outsource related upstream activities (i.e., patent filing). We then propose and empirically demonstrate that vertical integration benefits through learning differ from vertical outsourcing costs through forgetting. We show that firms can partly offset these hidden outsourcing costs by sourcing similar upstream products from internal and external suppliers. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A consistent analysis of diversification decisions with non-observable firm effects

The empirical analyses of firm diversification decisions, both for new activities (new products) and markets (for example, new routes for airlines), have usually estimated a binary dependent variable model for each of the decisions the firm makes. To obtain consistent estimators, every relevant effect must be considered in the specification. As this will hardly happen, the presence of nonobserved firm effects (either because such data do not exist or because it is impossible to obtain them) must be econometrically treated, because it causes inconsistency in the estimations. In this paper we propose to use the estimators provided by the maximization of the conditional likelihood function in problems of this kind because they give consistent results even when unobserved firm effects are present. Finally, we apply this technique to an example of diversification among Spanish manufacturers. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

More stars stay,but the brightest ones still leave: Job hopping in the shadow of patent enforcement

Competitive advantage often rests on the skills and expertise of individuals who may leave for rival organizations. Although institutional factors like non‐compete regimes shape intra‐industry mobility patterns, far less is known about firm‐specific reputations built through patent enforcement. This study formally models and empirically tests how a firm's prior litigiousness over patents (i.e., its reputation for IP toughness) influences employee mobility. Based on inventor data from the U.S. semiconductor industry, we find that litigiousness not only diminishes the proclivity of inventive workers to “job hop” to others in the industry, it also shifts the distribution of talent released to the market. The study contributes new insights linking firm‐level reputations as tough legal enforcers to the “stay versus exit” calculus of knowledge workers. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The quest for expansive intellectual property rights and the failure to disclose known relevant prior art

Expansive patent portfolios may be used by firms to fence off technological space for commercialization, impede the commercialization efforts of competitors, and enhance bargaining power in cross‐licensing negotiations. Low quality patents with claims that overlap those of other patents contribute to these portfolios and patent strategies. By failing to disclose known relevant prior art during the patenting process, inventors and their firms may be granted low quality patents with intellectual property claims which would not otherwise have been granted. We find that the failure of inventors to disclose known relevant prior art increases as they gain experience with the patenting process. Such failure is also greater among inventors employed by relatively small, poorly performing firms that rely on outsourced legal counsel during the application process. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Using users: When does external knowledge enhance corporate product innovation?

Prior research on corporate innovation highlights the importance of accessing external knowledge from other firms and universities. However, survey evidence indicates that product users are perhaps the most important source of external knowledge. We build on existing theory to identify the conditions under which user knowledge contributes to corporate innovation and when the benefits will be greatest. Using a panel dataset of medical device companies and their collaborative efforts with innovative physicians, we find evidence that inventive collaborations with users enhance corporate product innovation and that the benefits are greatest in new technology areas and in the generation of radical innovations. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Comparison of Chinese and Korean companies in ICT global standardization: Essential patent analysis

The latecomers from Asia—China and Korea—started to participate in information and communication technology (ICT) global standardizations as they accumulated technological capabilities. We observed the current situation of ICT global standardizations in those countries by analyzing the mobile communications standards, WCDMA and LTE, and derived interesting findings and meaningful implications from the analysis. First, this paper provides evidence of the differences in Chinese and Korean standard strategies; China is creating its own standard whereas Korea goes with global standardization. Second, this paper shows the subsequent results of the different strategies. In detail, we conducted an analysis based on (declared) essential patents in WCDMA and LTE. The results indicate that China and Korea hold a significant number of essential patents and their numbers compete with those of leading countries. However, the analysis shows that Korea accumulated domestic knowledge that enables the country to actively participate in standardization,but China still heavily relies on foreign knowledge, probably because China is attempting to create its own standard and accumulating knowledge takes a long time despite its efforts.Our findings have several implications for leading countries and other following countries.     

Influencing public policymaking: Firm‐, industry‐, and country‐level determinants

This paper examines the determinants of firms' public policymaking influence. Using a novel and global database that measures firms' perceived influence over the executive and legislative branches of government, a systematic analysis of the firm‐, industry‐, and country‐level determinants, and interrelationships among these determinants of firms' public policymaking influence is undertaken. The empirical results indicate that large firms perceive they have more public policymaking influence than small firms, but these differences are conditioned by the number of industry competitors and the structure of the country political institution environment. Nonmarket strategy implications that follow from this refined understanding are developed and discussed. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Interorganizational alliances and the performance of firms: a study of growth and innovation rates in a high‐technology industry

This paper investigates the relationship between intercorporate technology alliances and firm performance. It argues that alliances are access relationships, and therefore that the advantages which a focal firm derives from a portfolio of strategic coalitions depend upon the resource profiles of its alliance partners. In particular, large firms and those that possess leading‐edge technological resources are posited to be the most valuable associates. The paper also argues that alliances are both pathways for the exchange of resources and signals that convey social status and recognition. Particularly when one of the firms in an alliance is a young or small organization or, more generally, an organization of equivocal quality, alliances can act as endorsements: they build public confidence in the value of an organization's products and services and thereby facilitate the firm's efforts to attract customers and other corporate partners. The findings from models of sales growth and innovation rates in a large sample of semiconductor producers confirm that organizations with large and innovative alliance partners perform better than otherwise comparable firms that lack such partners. Consistent with the status‐transfer arguments, the findings also demonstrate that young and small firms benefit more from large and innovative strategic alliance partners than do old and large organizations. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

企业智力资本报告的探讨

企业智力资本报告是目前国外理论界研究的一个热点领域，在我国尚属一片空白。本文在对目前的智力资本报告进行分析与评价的基础上，设计了一种由智力资本报告主表、附表及报表附注所组成的报告框架。     

Firm litigation risk and the insurance value of corporate social performance

This paper advances the risk management perspective that superior social performance enhances firm value by serving as an ex ante valuable insurance mechanism. We posit that good social performance is more valuable as an insurance mechanism for firms with higher litigation risks. Moreover, value generation of corporate social performance (CSP) depends on whether a firm has gained pragmatic legitimacy (i.e., a firm's financial health) and moral legitimacy (i.e., whether or not a firm operates in a socially contested industry) among its stakeholders. We find that the value of CSP as insurance against litigation risk is practically significant, adding 2 to 4 percent to firm value. But CSP is less likely to create value if the firm is in financial distress or is operating in socially contested industries. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Entangled decisions: Knowledge interdependencies and terminations of patented inventions in the pharmaceutical industry

Research Summary : This study explores the role of knowledge interdependencies on the termination of patented inventions. Termination refers to the abandonment of inventive efforts that are no longer deemed promising. We argue that high interdependencies between an inventive effort and the other inventions in the same research program will increase the cognitive burden on managers and decrease the likelihood of termination. Further, in the presence of interdependencies, managers are likely to rely on heuristics for termination decisions. We focus on two such heuristics: interdependencies of an invention with those in other research programs and the level of external competition in the research program. We test our hypotheses with longitudinal data on patent terminations through non‐payment of renewal fees in the pharmaceutical industry. Managerial Summary : Effective management of innovation portfolios requires termination of opportunities that are no longer promising. Most current tools on termination assume that opportunities to be evaluated are independent from one another. This assumption may limit their usefulness in increasingly complex research domains, such as pharmaceutical R&D. In this study, we investigate how interdependencies among inventions influence firms' tendency to terminate those inventions. Our results on patent terminations show that a patent that is more interdependent with other patents in the same research program is less likely to be terminated. This suggests that managers may have difficulty in evaluating the inherent value of interdependent opportunities. This result is stronger when the patent is less interdependent with those in other research programs or in a more competitive area.     

国家产业技术政策、技术创新体系与产业技术创新战略联盟——兼论知识产权战略的作用机制

国家产业技术政策是国家为促进产业技术发展,建构产学研一体化的技术创新体系而实施的国家层面的指导性文件和纲领。国家产业技术政策与技术创新之间具有密切联系,建构产学研技术创新体系是实现国家产业技术政策的重要保障。其中产业技术创新战略联盟的建设则是实现产学研一体化技术创新体系和落实国家产业技术政策的重要战略性举措。     

高管海外背景与企业专利国际化 ——基于P CT申请的经验证据

在当前我国PCT(《专利合作条约》)国际专利申请(以下简称PCT申请)快速增长的背景下,本文使用2009~2019年创业板企业的数据,实证分析了高管海外背景对企业专利国际化的影响效果。研究发现:高管海外背景会正向促进企业专利国际化,且当高管既有海外求学背景又有海外任职背景时促进作用最强;相较于非CEO高管海外背景,CEO海外背景更能促进企业专利国际化;从内部治理因素看,高管股票期权激励正向调节高管海外背景对企业专利国际化的促进作用;从外部治理因素看,在知识产权保护程度低的地区,高管海外背景对企业专利国际化的推动作用更明显。本文的研究拓宽了国际专利申请的影响因素以及高管海外背景领域的相关文献,对企业开拓国际市场实现专利国际化具有指导意义。     

企业智力资本计量问题研究

企业智力资本计量是目前国内外理论界和实业界正在探索的一个热点领域。迄今已初步形成了一些计量模式和方法，但这些模式和方法存在许多缺陷。因而很有必要在此基础上，进一步探索更为科学的计量模式和方法。从企业价值创造机理来看，可以采用“动态四分法”对智力资本进行科学地分类，然后进行计量与估价，进而得出一种由识别、诊断和结果构成的三步式的企业智力资本计量的框架结构。     

Deals not done: Sources of failure in the market for ideas

Using novel survey data on technology licensing, we report the first empirical evidence linking the three main sources of failure emphasized in the market design literature (lack of market thickness, congestion, lack of market safety) to deal outcomes. We disaggregate the licensing process into three stages and find that, although lack of market thickness and deal failure are correlated in the first stage, they are not in the latter stages, underscoring the bilateral monopoly conditions under which negotiations over intellectual property often occur. In contrast, market safety is only salient in the final stage. Several commonly referenced bargaining frictions (congestion) are salient, particularly in the second stage. Also, universities and firms differ in the stage during which they are most likely to experience deal failure. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Strategic benefits to firms issuing private equity placements

For young technology firms, acquiring resources can often be costly due to the information asymmetry and uncertainty that exist surrounding the new technology. We contend that firms able to issue private equity can better manage their ability to mobilize three kinds of resources: capital, research partners, and commercial partners. We investigate the existence of long‐term, strategic benefits to private placements, and a number of factors may determine the long‐term effectiveness of this governance form. Overall, the empirical analyses demonstrates that private placements provide long‐term benefits to firms by reducing hazards associated with information asymmetry. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.