Abstract
To more closely align theories of paradigm-shifting discoveries and their empirical quantification, we propose a novel measure that incorporates a discovery’s impact, novelty, and tendency to break with the past into a single, coherent measure. Calibration using the National Inventor Hall of Fame data reveals that the three dimensions are strict complements, meaning, for example, that greater impact cannot substitute for moderate novelty. We illustrate how the measure works and validate it in several complementary ways using data on the United States Patent and Trademark Office patents from 1982 to 2015. High values of the measure are strongly predictive of discoveries that are simultaneously exceptional in terms of their impact, novelty, and disruptiveness.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 983-1005 |
| Number of pages | 23 |
| Journal | Industrial and Corporate Change |
| Volume | 35 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Jul 2026 |
| MoE publication type | A1 Journal article-refereed |
Funding
Hyytinen thanks Yrjö Jahnsson Foundation, FORTE (grant no. 2021-01552_3), Saara and Björn Wahlroos’ foundation, and Dr. H.C. Marcus Wallenberg’s Foundation for Research in Business Administration for financial support.
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