Local search or beyond? The influence of interfirm technological distance on co-innovation success
研究了企业间技术距离（认知边界跨越）对合作专利质量的影响，发现其效果取决于是否同时跨越地理和网络边界：同区域同网络时负向，跨区域跨网络时正向。
Abstract In the interfirm co-innovation process, knowledge search spanning organizational boundaries is believed to be essential to innovation but is often technologically, geographically, and socially bounded. Given that spanning any type of boundary may lead to both decreased learning and increased creativity, its influence on co-innovation success remains unclear. Using a sample of 18,575 US utility patents co-invented by 6,595 dyads of firms during 1993–2002, the net effect of interfirm technological distance (which depicts cognitive boundary-spanning search) on the quality of a co-invented patent is found to depend largely on other types of boundary-spanning searches, such as cross-regional and cross-network partnerships. The net effect is negative when co-inventing partners are within the same region and network, whereas the net effect becomes positive when partners originate from distinct regions and networks. The findings advance the understanding of boundary-spanning searches of various types and their complicated interactions, suggesting that boundary spanning is crucial to co-innovation success.