What happens after a generative invention?
I study which firms build on a breakthrough, where their subsequent invention is directed, and when other firms follow. These questions connect a firm's prior knowledge to the competitive consequences of technological change.
Related research
Working paper
Shaping the Search Landscape: Generative Inventions and Follow-On Invention
How does the first firm to build on a breakthrough shape the inventive paths and opportunities available to firms that follow?
Summary
I develop competitive shaping search to explain how a firm's early choices of knowledge elements and linkages can affect later search around the same generative invention. Horizontal shaping makes a derivative path less attractive to other firms. Vertical shaping positions the first searcher to benefit from future recombination possibilities. Using patent data, I relate knowledge relationships established before the breakthrough to the timing of later follow-on invention.