A study of Schumpterian (Radical) vs. Kirznerian (Incremental) innovations in knowledge intensive industries

In this study we draw upon Schumpeterian and Kirznerian theories of innovation, to frame through use of U.S. patent data for the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries for investigating the value of an organization’s knowledge through its intellectual property. Measures for both radical and incremental are developed and tested against firm performance. Our findings support the perspective of knowledge generation increasing financial and market performance returns for ventures concentrating their resources on the pursuit of Schumpeterian radical innovations through a strong organizational emphasis on the knowledge impact compared to lower performance returns for ventures which sought incremental innovation.