National origin diversity and innovation performance: the case of Japan

The debate on whether a team’s diversity influences innovation outcomes has gained attention in literature on innovation. Our study focuses on national origin among various teams’ diversity criteria. We use Japanese patent data between 2001 and 2015 to analyze inventors teams. Our analysis reveals that the inventors’ national origin diversity positively impacts the inventions’ quality measures. Furthermore, as the national origin diversity increases, its negative effects become dominant, eliciting an inverted-U-shaped effect. The results were consistent even after controlling for other research and development outcome determinants. Our findings have theoretical and practical implications for innovation policies.