The emergence of new knowledge: The case of zero‐reference patents

• Author: Kevin A. Miceli,Changhyun Kim,Tian Chen
• Date: 01 March 2021
• Published date: 01 March 2021
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/sej.1385

RESEARCH ARTICLE

The emergence of new knowledge: The case

of zero-reference patents

Tian Chen

1

| Changhyun Kim

2

| Kevin A. Miceli

3

1

Shidler College of Business, University of

Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii

2

CEIBS—China Europe International Business

School, Shanghai, China

3

Eli Broad College of Business, Michigan State

University, East Lansing, Michigan

Correspondence

Kevin A. Miceli, Eli Broad College of Business,

Michigan State University, 632 Bogue St,

N475, East Lansing, Michigan, USA.

Email: micelike@msu.edu

Abstract

Research Summary: Knowledge-based theories have pos-

ited that new technologies are recombinations of prior

technologies. To bring about new innovations, inventors

usually use past known knowledge as a key ingredient.

However, there exists a particular type of new technology

that does not have any explicit prior technology predeces-

sors. These pioneering technologies, also referred to as

“zero-reference patents,”not only reflect new knowledge

but can also serve as the initial seed from which recombina-

tion can subsequently create more knowledge and technol-

ogies. We seek to understand the characteristics of the

inventors who create these pioneering technologies. We

find that having focused, specific expertise is more impor-

tant than a broad knowledge base in the development of

these pioneering technologies, and that prior inventive suc-

cess can hinder their creation.

Managerial Summary: We highlight a type of patents which

have zero backward references, representing a form of

pioneering knowledge. Unlike other types of knowledge,

pioneering knowledge comes from inventors who have less

successful but more focused experience. Although the zero-

reference patents generally fail to show usefulness on their

own, the patents which build upon zero-reference patents

are more likely to become breakthrough patents and to gen-

erate a high number of forward citations. Zero-reference

patents are the seeds for future breakthroughs. Given the

All authors contributed equally and are listed alphabetically.

Received: 18 May 2017 Revised: 25 September 2020 Accepted: 19 October 2020 Published on: 22 November 2020

DOI: 10.1002/sej.1385

© 2020 Strategic Management Society

Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal. 2021;15:49–72. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/sej 49

importance of breakthroughs, we offer an alternative path

toward creating such knowledge. Our analysis at the level

of inventors also gives guidance on the type of talent who

are more likely to generate pioneering knowledge.

KEYWORDS

innovation, knowledge creation, pioneering technology

1|INTRODUCTION

Knowledge is a key strategic asset that is an important source of heterogeneity in firm performance (Grant, 1996;

Kogut & Zander, 1992;Nag & Gioia, 2012). By creating a streamof new knowledge, often leading to newproducts or

services, a firm differentiates itself from potential subsequent imitators (Burgelman, 1991; Damanpour, 1991). Hence,

strategy scholarshave devoted significantattention to how new knowledgeis created or acquired. One primaryavenue

for generating new knowledge is through the recombination of existing knowledge. In this respect, deciphering the

characteristicsof the knowledge itself that is being recombined has been an important area of understanding for new

knowledge creation(Fleming, 2001; Katila & Ahuja,2002; Yayavaram & Ahuja, 2008). Beyondtheir current knowledge,

sources of new knowledge have been seen as a competitiveadvantage for firms (Argote & Ingram, 2000) and can be

acquired from external sources like strategic alliances (Mowery, Oxley, & Silverman, 1996) or learning (Baum, Li, &

Usher, 2000). Further, the study of individuals—especially star scientists who generate new technologies—has also

been an activearea of analysis in new knowledge generation (Audia & Goncalo,2007; Oettl, 2012).

Among these sources, recombination of existing knowledge has long been recognized as a key process for the

emergence of new knowledge (Schumpeter, 1934). Recombination refers to the process of bringing together “ele-

ments previously unconnected or by developing new ways of combining elements previously associated”

(Nahapiet & Ghoshal, 1998: 248). Scholars have noted that new knowledge is created by linking previously distinct

knowledge or through recombining previous knowledge in novel ways (Kogut & Zander, 1992). Hence, seemingly

new knowledge can be traced back into already existing knowledge or ideas. While the literature explaining the

emergence of new knowledge by using prior knowledge ingredients offers insightful explanations on the evolution-

ary paths of knowledge (Katila & Ahuja, 2002; Rosenkopf & Nerkar, 2001), this literature stream remains silent on

the issue of where the initial knowledge comes from, in the first place. In essence, we aim to help decipher from

where the original knowledge “ingredients”in subsequent recombination activities arise. To do so, in this article, we

aim to understand the characteristics of inventors who create or explicate previously uncodified knowledge for

others to use.

To address this issue, we investigate a unique set of patents that do not have any backward references defined

by either the inventors or the patent examiners. We refer to these pioneering technologies as “zero-reference”

patents. Prior research has typically treated this type of patent as an unusual outlier that is consequently dropped in

the process of making a master dataset (e.g., Alcácer & Gittelman, 2006). The rationale is that there is no clear

recombination of the different knowledge ingredients, which has been the basis of underlying theories

(Fleming, 2001; Fleming & Sorenson, 2001). We, however, in this article, consider zero-reference patents as an

important source of insight on the emergence of initial knowledge.

Because this type of technological knowledge does not provide any information on its knowledge ingredients,

we are unable to understand how the pioneering technology was created in the traditional identification or from

where knowledge underlying the technology came. We operationalize pioneering technology as patents that have

no references listed in the prior art section of the patent grant. We investigate the antecedents of this type of knowl-

edge by examining the characteristics of the inventors generating the zero-reference technologies. This approach,

50 CHEN ET AL.