Knowledge Transfer Trough Job Mobility: Evidence from a Survey of Italian Inventors

Knowledge transfer issues are of great interest in researchers and policy makers agenda because of its implications in terms of innovation diffusion and economic welfare. Among the others, workers’ mobility, namely highly skilled ones, is considered as one of the most influential channels for knowledge transmission. This paper examines the patterns of mobility of a group of Italian inventors in the pharmaceutical sector. New empirical evidence is discussed and results of the analysis support the idea that workers’ mobility is an important mechanism of valuable knowledge diffusion. Moreover, the paper critically discusses methodological issues concerning measures of inventors’ mobility through patent statistics.Knowledge transfer, Mobility, Inventor, Productivity.