Inventor mobility and spillovers in the early semiconductor industry

This paper examines the role of inventor mobility to drive innovation spillovers in the early semiconductor industry. I employ self-collected patent data from the infrequently studied period prior to the industry's shift to Silicon Valley (1946–1959) to track inventor movement across firms and regions. I utilize patent assignments to identify inventor moves and test for increased patenting activity for firms on both sides of a move. The results show increases to patenting after a move on both sides which taper off over a period of several months. I also use the dataset to discuss the broader patterns in the industry during this period, including overall geographic and patenting trends.