
Dr. Felix Pöge
Former Research Fellow
Innovation and Entrepreneurship Research
Personal Website
Areas of Interest:
Economics of Innovation, Economics of Science, Industrial Organization, Microeconometrics
Academic Résumé
2016 - 2021
Junior Research Fellow and Doctoral Candidate, Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition (Innovation and Entrepreneurship Research)
Doctoral Thesis: “Corporate Innovation – The Role of Scientific Discoveries, Taxation and Antitrust”
2020
Virtual Visiting Student, University of Maryland, Robert H. Smith School of Business, College Park, MD, USA, Host: Serguey Braguinsky
2019
Visiting Scholar, Boston University, Questrom School of Business, Boston, MA, USA, Host: Jeff Furman
Since 2017
Research Affiliate, IZA Institute of Labor Economics, Bonn, Germany
2015
Internship with the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD), Paris
2013 - 2016
Master of Science in Economics at the University of Bonn
2013 - 2016
Student Assistant at the Institute for the Future of Labor (IZA), Bonn
2013 - 2014
Student Assistant and Tutor at the University of Bonn
2010 - 2013
Bachelor of Science in Economics at the University of Heidelberg and the National Unversity of Singapore
Honors, Scholarships, Academic Prizes
2020
Selected as CCC Visiting Student, University of Maryland, Smith School of Business, host: Serguey Braguinski
2020
Best Paper Award Finalist of the TIM Division at AOM
2018
EPIP Best Paper Award for Young Researchers
2012 - 2015
Scholarship of the German National Academic Foundation
2011 - 2012
Scholarship of the Federal Republic of Germany
Referee
Journal of Economic Inequality
Research Policy
Stata Journal
Publications
Articles in Refereed Journals
Filling the Gap - Firm Strategies for Human Capital Loss, Academy of Management Annual Meeting Proceedings, 2020 (1), 2020 (1)71. DOI
(2020).- This paper explores how the premature death of an inventor affects the productivity and career trajectories of co-inventors. To this end, we develop and analyze a dataset covering the careers of 152,350 German inventors. The data combine highly precise employer-employee data from official social security registers with patent office information covering the period from 1980-2014. Departing from 799 registered premature deaths of inventors and the same number of matched inventors, we study how co-inventors were affected by the death of their peers. Using a difference-in-differences and an event study design, we investigate the reaction of the co-inventors' patenting activities, career advancement and job mobility. Using a number of measures and robustness checks, our results show that the premature death of a co-inventor reduces the productivity of the surviving co-inventors. The effect sets in immediately and survivors do not seem to recover from the shock in the five years following. We argue that employers will seek to retain co-inventors under certain conditions in order to continue lines of research and invention. The empirical results confirm our expectations: surviving inventors are significantly less likely to move to a different employer and are more likely to be promoted compared to inventors in the control group. These effects seem to diminish after about two years."
Science Quality and the Value of Inventions, Science Advances, 5 (12), eaay7323. DOI
(2019).- Despite decades of research, the relationship between the quality of science and the value of inventions has remained unclear. We present the result of a large-scale matching exercise between 4.8 million patent families and 43 million publication records. We find a strong positive relationship between quality of scientific contributions referenced in patents and the value of the respective inventions. We rank patents by the quality of the science they are linked to. Strikingly, high-rank patents are twice as valuable as low-rank patents, which in turn are about as valuable as patents without direct science link. We show this core result for various science quality and patent
value measures. The effect of science quality on patent value remains relevant even when science is linked indirectly through other patents. Our findings imply that what is considered “excellent” within the science sector also leads to outstanding outcomes in the technological or commercial realm. - Also published as: arXiv preprint 1903.05020
- Article: Excellence Breeds Invention, Research Europe 510 (2020), 11
Estimating Measures of Multidimensional Poverty with Stata, Stata Journal, 17 (3), 687-703.
(2017).Further Publications, Press Articles, Interviews
Research Europe, (510), 11.
(2020). Excellence Breeds Invention. The Most Highly Cited Papers Feature in the Most Valuable Patents,- Article "Science Quality and the Value of Inventions" in Science Advances, Vol. 5 (2019) No. 12, eaay7323
- More detailed online version of the article in Research Europe, which was the basis for the printed article.
Discussion Papers
Filling the Gap: The Consequences of Collaborator Loss in Corporate R&D, Max Planck Institute for Innovation & Competition Research Paper, No. 22-17.
(2022).- We examine how collaborator loss affects knowledge workers in corporate R&D. We argue that such a loss affects the remaining collaborators not only by reducing their team-specific capital (as argued in the prior literature) but also by increasing their bargaining power over the employer, who is in need of filling the gap left by the lost collaborator to ensure the continuation of R&D projects. This shift in bargaining power may, in turn, lead to benefits, such as additional resources or more attractive working conditions. These benefits can partially compensate for the negative effect of reduced team-specific capital on productivity and influence the career trajectories of the remaining collaborators. We empirically investigate the consequences of collaborator loss by exploiting 845 unexpected deaths of active inventors. We find that inventor death has a moderate negative effect on the productivity of the remaining collaborators. This negative effect disappears when we focus on the remaining collaborators who work for the same employer as the deceased inventor. Moreover, this group is more likely to be promoted and less likely to leave their current employer.
- Available at SSRN
A Firm Scientific Community: Industry Participation and Knowledge Diffusion, IZA Discussion Paper, No. 13419.
(2020).- We study the diffusion of knowledge from scientists to firms within scientific communities. We build on a unique dataset on conference proceedings as "paper trail" of almost all relevant conference series in computer science since 1996. More than 5000 firms appear as conference sponsors or as affiliations in proceedings. Their participation is concentrated in the highly ranked conferences and their scientific contributions are on average highly cited. We exploit direct flights as an instrumental variable for the participation choice of scientists between a conference where a firm participates and other similar conferences. The participation in the same conference has a positive causal effect on knowledge diffusion to the firm's scientific and inventive activities. Additional analyses suggest that interactions and collaborations with scientists that remain external to the firm are likely a key mechanism of this diffusion. The effects are remarkably stronger the larger the firm's investments in participation.
- https://www.iza.org/de/publications/dp/13419/a-firm-scientific-community-industry-participation-and-knowledge-diffusion
A Firm Scientific Community: Industry Participation and Knowledge Diffusion, Max Planck Institute for Innovation & Competition Research Paper, No. 20-10.
(2020).- We study the diffusion of knowledge from scientists to firms within scientific communities. We build on a unique dataset on conference proceedings as “paper trail” of almost all relevant conference series in computer science since 1996. More than 5000 firms appear as conference sponsors or as affiliations in proceedings. Their participation is concentrated in the highly ranked conferences and their scientific contributions are on average highly cited. We exploit direct flights as an instrumental variable for the participation choice of scientists between a conference where a firm participates and other similar conferences. The participation in the same conference has a positive causal effect on knowledge diffusion to the firm’s scientific and inventive activities. Additional analyses suggest that interactions and collaborations with scientists that remain external to the firm are likely a key mechanism of this diffusion. The effects are remarkably stronger the larger the firm’s investments in participation.
- Available at SSRN
- Also published as: DRUID19; 4936
Science Quality and the Value of Inventions, arXiv preprint 1903.05020.
(2019).- Despite decades of research, the relationship between the quality of science and the value of inventions has remained unclear. We present the result of a large-scale matching exercise between 4.8 million patent families and 43 million publication records. We find a strong positive relationship between quality of scientific contributions referenced in patents and the value of the respective inventions. We rank patents by the quality of the science they are linked to. Strikingly, high-rank patents are twice as valuable as low-rank patents, which in turn are about as valuable as patents without direct science link. We show this core result for various science quality and patent
value measures. The effect of science quality on patent value remains relevant even when science is linked indirectly through other patents. Our findings imply that what is considered “excellent” within the science sector also leads to outstanding outcomes in the technological or commercial realm. - https://arxiv.org/pdf/1903.05020.pdf
- Also published in Science Advances 2019, Vol. 5, No. 12, eaay7323
A Firm Scientific Community, DRUID19, 4936. Copenhagen: Copenhagen Business School.
(2019).- The diffusion of scientific knowledge to industry is instrumental to technological change and productivity growth. In this paper, we investigate the extent to which firms participate in scientific communities' activities and whether this facilitates the exchange and transfer of scientific knowledge
to firms' technological activities. We focus on two modes of interactions of firms with scientific communities: the participation to and the sponsorship of international scientific conferences. We exploit a newly constructed database comprising the set of all conference proceedings in computer science from 1996 until 2015 from a specialized computer science database (DBLP) matched to Web of
Science and Scopus and conference ranking information. We track knowledge transfers by patent and science citations to these proceedings. First, we document that both conference participation and
sponsorship by firms is frequent and concentrated in the events of the highest quality. Contributions of firms at conferences are of higher average quality, even within individual conferences. Second, we go
on to find that firms are significantly more likely to cite in their patents and papers the scientific articles presented at a conference which they attended relative to comparable articles presented at other conferences. We use airline connectivity between researcher and conference locations in an instrumental variable strategy to establish causality. - https://conference.druid.dk/acc_papers/45ci2gtnh996gaar52h23n4wfg5wfn.pdf
Linked Inventor Biography Data 1980-2014, FDZ Data Report, No. 03/2018.
(2018).- This data report describes the Linked Inventor Biography Data 1980-2014 (INV-BIO ADIAB 8014), its generation using record linkage and machine learning methods as well as how to access the data via the FDZ.
- Dieser Datenreport beschreibt die verknüpften Erfinderbiografiedaten 1980-2014 (INV-BIO ADIAB 8014), deren Erstellung mittels Record Linkage und Machine Learning Methoden sowie den Datenzugang über das FDZ.
- http://doku.iab.de/fdz/reporte/2018/DR_03-18_EN.pdf
Presentations
13.12.2021
Competition and Innovation: The Breakup of IG Farben
LMU Innovation Workshop
Location: online
31.10.2021
Competition and Innovation: The Breakup of IG Farben
Annual Meeting, Economic History Association
Location: Tucson, AZ, USA
13.10.2021
Competition and Innovation: The Breakup of IG Farben
TPRI Brown Bag Seminar, Boston University
Location: Boston, USA
28.09.2021
Competition and Innovation: The Breakup of IG Farben
Annual Meeting, Verein für Socialpolitik, University of Regensburg
Location: online
28.09.2021
Competition and Innovation: The Breakup of IG Farben
EPFL Virtual Innovation Seminar, EPFL
Location: online
28.08.2021
Competition and Innovation: The Breakup of IG Farben
EARIE, Bergen, Norway
Location: online
29.06.2021
Competition and Innovation: The Breakup of IG Farben
BEWIP Seminar, TU Munich
Location: online
16.06.2021
Competition and Innovation: The Breakup of IG Farben
DICE Brown Bag Seminar, University of Düsseldorf
Location: online
27.05.2021
Competition and Innovation: The Breakup of IG Farben
EBE/CRC Summer School 2021: Applied Microeconomics
Location: online
10.05.2021
Competition and Innovation: The Breakup of IG Farben
8th CRC 190 retreat, Schwanenwerder
Location: online
23.11.2020
Competition and Innovation: Breaking IG Farben
Innovation Seminar, LMU
Location: virtual/Munich
14.10.2020
Competition and Innovation: Dissolving IG Farben
Research Seminar in Economic History, University of Mannheim
Location: virtual/Mannheim
30.9.2020
A Firm Scientific Community
German Economic Association Annual Meeting
Location: virtual
17.09.2020
Competition and Innovation: Dissolving IG Farben
CDSS Seminar, University of Maryland
Location: virtual/Maryland, US
09.09.2020
Competition and Innovation: Dissolving IG Farben
Research Seminar
Location: virtual/Munich
27.08.2020
A Firm Scientific Community
European Economic Association Meeting
Location: virtual
09.08.2020
Filling the Gap-Firm Strategies for Human Capital Loss
Academy of Management Conference
Location: virtual
27.08.2020
A Firm Scientific Community
KTO Seminar, Skema
Location: virtual/SKEMA
03.03.2020
Competition and Innovation: Dissolving IG Farben
Research Seminar
Location: Zugspitze
04.12.2019
Deconcentration and Innovation: Dissolving IG Farben
TPRI Brown Bag, Boston University Law
Location: Boston, Massachusetts, US
30.10.2019
A Firm Scientific Community: Participation of Industry to Academia and Knowledge Diffusion
PhD Seminar, University of Utah Eccles
Location: Salt Lake City, Utah, US
30.10.2019
A Firm Scientific Community: Participation of Industry to Academia and Knowledge Diffusion
S&I Brown Bag, Boston University Questrom
Location: Boston, Massachusetts, US
12.08.2019
A Firm Scientific Community
Academy of Management Conference
Location: Boston, Massachusetts, US
08.07.2019
Deconcentration and Innovation: Dissolving IG Farben
LMU Munich Innovation Seminar
Location: Munich
13.06.2019
A Firm Scientific Community - Do Scientific Conferences Facilitate Knowledge Transmission to Private Firms?
Munich Young Economist Meeting
Location: Kochel am See
17.05.2019
A Firm Scientific Community
Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung Innopat
Location: Mannheim
13.04.2019
A Firm Scientific Community - Do Scientific Conferences Facilitate Knowledge Transmission to Private Firms?
24th Spring Meeting of Young Economists
Location: Brussels, Belgium
23.03.2019
Do Scientific Conferences Facilitate Knowledge Transmission to Private Firms?
Innovation, Technological Change and International Trade Workshop
Location: Heilbronn
10.12.2018
Do Scientific Conferences Facilitate Knowledge Transmission to Private Firms?
Junior Researcher Workshop 2018, Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition
Location: Munich
30.10.2018
A Firm Scientific Community: Do Scientific Conferences Facilitate Knowledge Transmission to Private Firms?
IO and Trade Seminar, LMU Munich
Location: Munich
02.10.2018
A Firm Scientific Community: Do Scientific Conferences Facilitate Knowledge Transmission to Private Firms?
IO and Trade Seminar, LMU Munich
Location: Munich
06.09.2018
A Firm Scientific Community: Do Scientific Conferences Facilitate Knowledge Transmission to Private Firms?
EPIP 2018, ESMT Berlin
Location: Berlin
01.02.2018
R&D Investments, Innovation and Corporate Taxation: Evidence from German Municipalities
4th Geography of Innovation Conference
Location: Barcelona, Spain
05.10.2017
R&D Investments, Innovation and Corporate Taxation: Evidence from German Municipalities
MGSE Colloquium, LMU Munich
Location: Munich