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Sparking Innovation: The Effect of Inventor Gender Diversity on Recombinant Innovation
Abstract: We isolate the effect of gender diversity among patenting inventors on the recombinant nature of firm innovation. To measure recombinant innovation, we propose an information artifact called SPaRK (Semantic Patent Recombinant Knowledge), which utilizes word embeddings from the patent text. We identify the impact of inventor gender diversity by leveraging the variation in the proportion of female graduate students entering the local inventor labor market as an instrumental variable. Using a multi-source data set spanning 23 years across 4769 firms, we find that gender diversity among a firm's inventors positively impacts (1) the firm's future recombinant innovation, (2) the firm's future innovation quantity, quality, and labor efficiency and (3) future innovation productivity of female inventors at the firm. Our results document that enhancing the gender diversity of inventors results in positive outcomes for both the firm as well as the female inventors employed at the firm. Our mediation analysis shows that gender-diverse collaborations are essential for recombinant innovation.
Bio: I am a fifth-year Ph.D. Candidate in the Information Systems, Operations Management, Supply Chain Management, & Business Analytics (IOSA) Area at the Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. My educational background includes an undergraduate degree in Engineering, a master's degree in Data Science, and a master's degree in Business Administration. My research integrates machine learning (ML), natural language processing (NLP), and econometrics to derive business intelligence. I study questions about organizational innovation, gender diversity, mergers and acquisitions, and healthcare. In my dissertation, I explore various facets of innovation within firms, offering NLP and ML-based design artifacts to help organizations enhance their understanding of innovation and inform managerial strategies for better innovation outcomes.