The Impact of Knowledge Worker Mobility through an Acquisition on Breakthrough Knowledge
研究收购后留住目标公司科学家如何影响收购方创造高影响力知识，发现留住科学家能提升突破性知识产出，且效果受知识复杂性和相似性调节。
Abstract Acquisitions enable firms to access new knowledge from target firms, along with the scientists who created the knowledge, to enhance their own knowledge creation outcomes. We explore how the retention of target firm scientists and acquired knowledge characteristics affect new knowledge creation outcomes for the acquiring firms. Using a sample of 111,227 patents following 301 high‐tech acquisitions in 1990–2000, we find that acquiring firms that avoid the exodus of target firm scientists increase their likelihood of creating highly impactful knowledge. Moreover, the characteristics of acquired knowledge and organizational context of the acquiring firms moderate this relationship. The positive effect of target firm scientist retention on the likelihood of creating highly impactful knowledge during the post‐acquisition period is stronger when the acquired knowledge is complex, whereas such a relationship is weaker when the acquired knowledge stock is similar to that of the acquiring firm.