Dissertation
Individual knowledge specialization and the role of generalists in knowledge production and diffusion
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Drexel University
Apr 2019
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17918/aaex-v428
Abstract
The rapid accumulation of scientific knowledge requires scientists and inventors to be increasingly specialized to reach the knowledge frontier. This trend of individual knowledge specialization creates problems for collaborative knowledge production, which has become the predominant approach to innovation. Following an emerging line of research, this dissertation investigates the role that broadly knowledgeable scientists - or generalists - play in contributing to collective knowledge activities. This broad inquiry is executed through three specific studies. The first essay probes into the question of external knowledge integration through mobility. I show that when more incumbent members of hiring firms are generalists, the knowledge of those recruited from outside the company is more likely to be integrated and used to break into novel knowledge domains. The second study examines how non-pecuniary incentives affect knowledge productivity broadly through spillovers. In particular, it suggests that this impact has implication for collaborations, and its magnitude depends on the individual's degree of knowledge specialization. The last essay explores individual level evidence of generalists' roles in shaping intra-organizational collaboration networks. Results suggest that more needs to be understood regarding the actual behaviors and implications of generalists in archival settings.
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Details
- Title
- Individual knowledge specialization and the role of generalists in knowledge production and diffusion
- Creators
- Di Tong - DU
- Contributors
- Daniel Tzabbar (Advisor) - Drexel University (1970-)
- Awarding Institution
- Drexel University
- Degree Awarded
- Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
- Publisher
- Drexel University; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Number of pages
- x, 154 pages
- Resource Type
- Dissertation
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Bennett S. LeBow College of Business; Drexel University
- Other Identifier
- 9462; 991014632714004721