Dr. Christian Steinle

Articles in Refereed Journals

Harhoff, Dietmar; Hoisl, Karin; Steinle, Christian (2018). Network Structure and Inventive Performance, Academy of Management Proceedings, 2018 (1). DOI

• The goal of this paper is to analyze how different structural configurations of networks stimulate invention activities, i.e., whether they increase the quantity or the quality of patented inventions. We present theoretical arguments implying that the strength of ties is more important for inventive quality, and the size of a network is more important for inventive quantity. We base our analysis on original survey data obtained from 1,204 inventors listed on European patent applications of companies active in clean technology, nanotechnology, and mechanical engineering. The survey data were matched with register information covering 15,168 patent applications filed at the European Patent Office. We find that the size of the network and the strength of the ties are positively related to invention quantity and quality. After instrumenting the endogenous network variables, we find that not considering endogeneity leads to an overestimation of the effect of the network size and an underestimation of the effect of the strength of the network ties. Additionally, after instrumenting the endogenous variables, we find that whereas the size of a network is equally important for invention quantity and quality, the strength of network ties is considerably more important (times 1.6) for quality than for quantity.

Monographies

Steinle, Christian (2017). Persönlichkeit, soziale Netzwerke und Leistung von Erfindern. Empirische Analysen von Befragungs- und Patentdaten (Innovation und Entrepreneurship). Wiesbaden: Springer Gabler. DOI

Discussion Papers

Frosch, Katharina; Harhoff, Dietmar; Hoisl, Karin; Steinle, Christian; Zwick, Thomas (2015). Humankapitalakkumulation von deutschen Erfindern in Schlüsseltechnologien, Praxisbericht zum DFG-Projekt ”Clean Technology-Innovationen in Deutschland: Humankapitalakkumulation bei heterogenen Wissensinputs“ (GZ: ZW 172/2-1).

Frosch, Katharina; Harhoff, Dietmar; Hoisl, Karin; Steinle, Christian; Zwick, Thomas (2015). Clean Technology Innovations in Germany: Human Capital Accumulation under Heterogenous Knowledge Inputs, Daten- und Methodenbericht zum DFG-Projekt ”Clean Technology-Innovationen in Deutschland: Humankapitalakkumulation bei heterogenen Wissensinputs“ (GZ: ZW 172/2-1).

Frosch, Katharina; Harhoff, Dietmar; Hoisl, Karin; Steinle, Christian; Zwick, Thomas (2015). Candidate Screening for the Recruitment of Critical Research and Development Workers – A Report and Preliminary Results with Evidence from Experimental Data from German High-Tech Firms, ZEW Discussion Paper, No. 15-002.

• The report focuses on résumé-based screening strategies for the recruitment of highly qualified research and development (R&D) workers (critical R&D workers) in high-tech firms. We investigate which kinds of professional background, job-related experience, motivations, specific skills, and previous inventive activity make a candidate attractive for firms specializing in clean technology or mechanical elements. The report is based on a combination of survey and experimental data collected from 194 HR decision makers in German high-tech firms and from 89 technology experts in the clean technology and mechanical elements fields. A mixed logit model is used to analyse hiring preferences because this model allows us to deal with repeated choices. We find that HR decision makers prefer candidates with technology-specific patenting experience, an engineering background, analytical thinking skills, and a strong desire to develop path-breaking technologies. Furthermore, no one-size-fits-all candidate exists that is equally preferred in both technology fields. HR decision makers in mechanical element firms prefer specialists to generalists, whereas those in clean technology attach special importance to a candidate’s orientation towards environmental concerns and sustainability.
• http://ftp.zew.de/pub/zew-docs/dp/dp15002.pdf

Frosch, Katharina; Harhoff, Dietmar; Hoisl, Karin; Steinle, Christian; Zwick, Thomas (2015). Individual Determinants of Inventor Productivity: Report and Preliminary Results with Evidence from Linked Human Capital and Patent Data, ZEW Discussion Paper, No. 15-001.

• This report offers new insights into the drivers of inventor productivity at the individual level. It includes well-known drivers, such as inventor age and education, and controls for inventor team size, and firm/applicant information, as well as period and technology field effects derived from patent data. In addition, it adds inventor characteristics that have been largely neglected in existing studies on inventor productivity, such as the breadth of work experience, divergent thinking skills, cognitive problem-solving skills, the use of knowledge sourced from networks within and outside of the inventors’ field of expertise, and personality traits. The empirical model draws on a new dataset that matches information about inventors’ human capital, such as creative skills, personality traits, networks, and career biographies (collected with a self-administered survey) with patenting histories for 1932 German inventors between the years 1978 and 2012 for clean technology, nanotechnology, and mechanical elements. Our results indicate that the additional inventor characteristics double the proportion of total variation of productivity explained by individual characteristics. Furthermore, we find differences in the importance of individual characteristics across industries and along the productivity distribution, between more and less productive inventors.
• http://ftp.zew.de/pub/zew-docs/dp/dp15001.pdf