---
_id: '66758'
abstract:
- lang: eng
text: "We return to the theoretical foundations of absorptive capacity and
test the idea that personal experience in a field makes it easier for a firm’s
inventors to recognize and build upon knowledge in that field from other local
firms. We propose a new empirical model of localized knowledge diffusion, which
(1) measures a firm’s absorptive capacity by its inventors’ prior experience in
a field, (2) uses a death instrument to exogenously vary the availability of knowledge
of the same collaborative patent in different regions, and (3) estimates the difference
in citation likelihood from all subsequent inventors across both regions as a
function of a potentially citing inventor’s prior experience in the field. Consistent
with the original theory of absorptive capacity, firms whose inventors have prior
experience in a field are more likely to use locally available interpersonal knowledge
from other firms; furthermore, this effect declines monotonically with distance.
Although the effects strengthen for more recent experience and multidisciplinary
knowledge, the greatest benefits accrue to firms in the interaction—those whose
inventors have more recent experience and that seek to absorb multidisciplinary
knowledge. Interpersonal absorptive capacity within firms does not appear to localize.\r\n
\ This paper was accepted by Anita McGahan, business strategy.\r\n
\ Funding: The authors acknowledge financial support from
the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and the National Science Foundation [Grant 1360228].\r\n
\ Supplemental Material: The online appendix and data
files are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2024.06147 ."
article_number: mnsc.2024.06147
author:
- first_name: Benjamin
full_name: Balsmeier, Benjamin
last_name: Balsmeier
- first_name: Lee
full_name: Fleming, Lee
last_name: Fleming
- first_name: Sonja
full_name: Lück, Sonja
id: '950'
last_name: Lück
orcid: 0000-0003-0380-1965
citation:
ama: Balsmeier B, Fleming L, Lück S. Microfoundations of Absorptive Capacity as
Revealed by Inventor Deaths. Management Science. Published online 2026.
doi:10.1287/mnsc.2024.06147
apa: Balsmeier, B., Fleming, L., & Lück, S. (2026). Microfoundations of Absorptive
Capacity as Revealed by Inventor Deaths. Management Science, Article mnsc.
2024.06147. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2024.06147
bibtex: '@article{Balsmeier_Fleming_Lück_2026, title={Microfoundations of Absorptive
Capacity as Revealed by Inventor Deaths}, DOI={10.1287/mnsc.2024.06147},
number={mnsc. 2024.06147}, journal={Management Science}, author={Balsmeier, Benjamin
and Fleming, Lee and Lück, Sonja}, year={2026} }'
chicago: Balsmeier, Benjamin, Lee Fleming, and Sonja Lück. “Microfoundations of
Absorptive Capacity as Revealed by Inventor Deaths.” Management Science,
2026. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2024.06147.
ieee: 'B. Balsmeier, L. Fleming, and S. Lück, “Microfoundations of Absorptive Capacity
as Revealed by Inventor Deaths,” Management Science, Art. no. mnsc. 2024.06147,
2026, doi: 10.1287/mnsc.2024.06147.'
mla: Balsmeier, Benjamin, et al. “Microfoundations of Absorptive Capacity as Revealed
by Inventor Deaths.” Management Science, mnsc. 2024.06147, 2026, doi:10.1287/mnsc.2024.06147.
short: B. Balsmeier, L. Fleming, S. Lück, Management Science (2026).
date_created: 2026-08-20T07:21:00Z
date_updated: 2026-08-21T11:00:30Z
department:
- _id: '281'
- _id: '475'
- _id: '200'
doi: 10.1287/mnsc.2024.06147
language:
- iso: eng
publication: Management Science
publication_identifier:
issn:
- 0025-1909
- 1526-5501
publication_status: published
status: public
title: Microfoundations of Absorptive Capacity as Revealed by Inventor Deaths
type: journal_article
user_id: '950'
year: '2026'
...