The role of corporate scientists in innovation

We conducted empirical analysis of the role of corporate scientists in Japanese pharmaceutical companies using data on published papers and patent applications. We found that scientists with the highest publication performance scores did not apply for a considerably greater number of patents than other researchers in their companies. Instead, we found that these “core scientists” had a positive effect on the number of patent applications filed by their co-authors. Our findings suggest that core scientists play an important role as central conduits for the in-flow of knowledge from outside their companies, thereby stimulating innovation.