# Creation of knowledge through exchanges of knowledge: Evidence from Japanese patent data

## TL;DR

This paper provides empirical evidence that direct exchanges of differentiated knowledge among Japanese researchers enhance collaborative patent output, increasing both quantity and novelty, with different mechanisms for each.

## Contribution

It demonstrates how knowledge exchanges specifically boost collaborative productivity in patent creation, measured by quality and novelty, using Japanese patent data.

## Key findings

- Knowledge exchange increases the number of patents (extensive margin)
- Knowledge exchange enhances patent novelty (intensive margin)
- Different mechanisms drive quality and novelty improvements

## Abstract

This study shows evidence for collaborative knowledge creation among individual researchers through direct exchanges of their mutual differentiated knowledge. Using patent application data from Japan, the collaborative output is evaluated according to the quality and novelty of the developed patents, which are measured in terms of forward citations and the order of application within their primary technological category, respectively. Knowledge exchange is shown to raise collaborative productivity more through the extensive margin (i.e., the number of patents developed) in the quality dimension, whereas it does so more through the intensive margin in the novelty dimension (i.e., novelty of each patent).