Assessing the impact of brexit on UK-based inventor teams' connectivity

Abstract

Contemporary events have challenged the idea of an inevitable rise in connectivity. Economic, geopolitical, and regulatory disruptions have led scholars and practitioners to consider the potential implications that a loss of global mobility and connectedness has on the potential for knowledge creation. Although key to this process, the notion of connectivity has seldom been studied along with disruptions. To fill in this gap, this paper intends to investigate the impact of an unprecedented regulatory shock - the 2016 United Kingdom European Union (EU) membership referendum - on UK-based inventor teams' knowledge connectivity. There is considerable literature documenting a negative relationship between the uncertainty generated by disruptions and innovation. We add a complementary and potentially ameliorating effect whereby disruptions increase knowledge connectivity. We review the evidence for the former and discuss potential mechanisms behind the latter. Relying on patent application data from 2009 to 2022, we observe an overall increase in connectivity for teams with at least one inventor based out of the UK after the referendum. Our analysis also suggests an internationalization of UK teams taking precedence over what may have been a more regional focus. We discuss the immediate, and potential long-term implications of this dynamic for UK innovation.