The quest for valuable inventions: Knowledge search and the value of patented inventions

While numerous studies have investigated the influence of knowledge search strategies on the impact of patented inventions, these studies predominantly focus on an invention's technological value. The economic value dimension has received less attention. This study draws on category-spanning and recombinant search literature to examine how knowledge search affects the economic value of patented inventions and compares this impact with that on technological value. Through an analysis of the knowledge search of a large sample of 1,998,504 U.S. utility patents, we find that knowledge search depth enhances an invention's economic value but negatively impacts its technological value. In contrast, knowledge search scope boosts an invention's technological value but diminishes its economic value. Moreover, knowledge relatedness, i.e., the extent to which the knowledge components being recombined are similar, has significant moderating effects. We conclude with a discussion of the theoretical and practical implications of our findings.