Inventor Gender and the Direction of Invention

Rembrand  Koning; Sampsa  Samila; John-Paul  Ferguson

Article | AEA Papers and Proceedings | May 2020

Inventor Gender and the Direction of Invention

by Rembrand Koning, Sampsa Samila and John-Paul Ferguson

Abstract

We study whether increasing the share of female inventors leads to more biomedical inventions that focus on the needs of women. After accounting for detailed disease-technology, disease-year, and technology-year fixed effects, we find that a 10 percentage point increase in the share of female inventors in a research area yields 1.2 percentage points more female-focused patents. Notably, this effect only holds for female-led invention teams. Areas with a greater share of female inventors in supporting roles do not produce more female-focused inventions. For gender to impact the direction of invention, it appears that women must occupy positions of power.

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Gender; Patents;

Format: Print

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Koning, Rembrand, Sampsa Samila, and John-Paul Ferguson. "Inventor Gender and the Direction of Invention." AEA Papers and Proceedings 110 (May 2020): 250–254.

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The case explores the strategic decision of global non-profit startup accelerator MassChallenge on whether to pursue a for-profit spinoff, discussing: (1) the costs and benefits of this decision, (2) how best to manage the risks of the decision, and (3) alternative pathways to ensure business sustainability and success.

Working Paper | 2020

Hunting for Talent: Firm-Driven Labor Market Search in America

Rembrand Koning, Sharique Hasan and Ines Black

Research suggests that increased digitization of the labor market combined with the changing demand for skill has altered the job-search process. In this article, we argue that these changes have led to increased investments in firm-driven search for talent (or `outbound recruiting'). We investigate this question using two data sets, one new. First, we conduct a nationally representative survey of over 13,000 American workers. We find that nearly 18 percent of all employed workers in the US were hired into their present company by the outbound recruiting effort their employer, either directly or through labor market intermediaries such as a headhunter. The share of hiring driven by firm-driven search is greatest among higher-income workers, at 20.3 percent, and those with STEM and business degrees, at 20 percent. Moreover, considerable regional variation exists. For example, over a quarter of Silicon Valley workers are hired in this manner, whereas only 14.5% of those in Rochester are. Second, we complement our worker-level results by analyzing a large sample of job postings in the US economy over the past decade. We find that firms, especially those relying on high-skilled labor, are increasingly developing capabilities to better hunt for talent — hiring more recruiters with skill in online search. Given the growth of this practice, we discuss implications for research on firm strategy and labor markets.

Keywords: hiring; referrals; outbound recruiting; labor markets; Selection and Staffing; Networks; Recruitment; Strategy; United States;

Citation:

Koning, Rembrand, Sharique Hasan, and Ines Black. "Hunting for Talent: Firm-Driven Labor Market Search in America." SSRN Working Paper Series, No. 3576498, April 2020. View Details

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An examination of the strategic marketing challenges facing Thinx as it tries to grow in the face of menstruation taboos and competition from large incumbents.

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Inventor Gender and the Direction of Invention

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