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Diversity, networks, and innovation: A text analytic approach to measuring expertise diversity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 December 2022

Alina Lungeanu Open the ORCID record for Alina Lungeanu [Opens in a new window] ,
Ryan Whalen Open the ORCID record for Ryan Whalen [Opens in a new window] ,
Y. Jasmine Wu Open the ORCID record for Y. Jasmine Wu [Opens in a new window] ,
Leslie A. DeChurch  and
Noshir S. Contractor Open the ORCID record for Noshir S. Contractor [Opens in a new window]
Alina Lungeanu*
Affiliation:
Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
Ryan Whalen
Affiliation:
The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong
Y. Jasmine Wu
Affiliation:
Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
Leslie A. DeChurch
Affiliation:
Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
Noshir S. Contractor
Affiliation:
Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
*
*Corresponding author. Email: alina.lungeanu1@northwestern.edu
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Abstract

Despite the importance of diverse expertise in helping solve difficult interdisciplinary problems, measuring it is challenging and often relies on proxy measures and presumptive correlates of actual knowledge and experience. To address this challenge, we propose a text-based measure that uses researcher’s prior work to estimate their substantive expertise. These expertise estimates are then used to measure team-level expertise diversity by determining similarity or dissimilarity in members’ prior knowledge and skills. Using this measure on 2.8 million team invented patents granted by the US Patent Office, we show evidence of trends in expertise diversity over time and across team sizes, as well as its relationship with the quality and impact of a team’s innovation output.

Keywords

inventor networksnetwork sciencetext analyticsinnovationpatent recordsteam scienceteam expertise diversity
Type
Research Article
Information
Network Science , Volume 11 , Special Issue 1: Scientific Networks , March 2023 , pp. 36 - 64
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press

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Footnotes

Guest Editor (Special Issue on Scientific Networks): Dmitry Zaytsev

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