Regional gatekeepers, inventor networks and inventive performance: Spatial and organizational channels

It is increasingly emphasized that the innovative performance of regions depends on the right balance between local development and external openness. The paper contributes to this discussion by exploring how regional gatekeepers contribute to inventive performance through their intermediation role as they establish extra-local linkages in addition to their local embeddedness. More specifically, we investigate whether firms benefit from the gatekeeping position of their inventors. To do so, we identify corporate inventors with a gatekeeper position, and study whether their presence in inventor teams affects the quality of inventions and differs when gatekeepers cross organizational (intrafirm, interfirm versus science-industry) and/or regional boundaries (one or multiple regions). Our results show that gatekeepers have a higher impact on the quality of inventions when they work for firms involved in inter-firm collaborations unlike external stars who have either no effect or a negative impact on inventive quality.