The Evolution of Knowledge Spillover and Company cluster in Semiconductor Industry

The purpose of this study is to scrutinize and characterize the dynamic evolution of involuntary knowledge spillover (patent citations among companies) and voluntary knowledge spillover (companies as joint owners/co-assignees) in the semiconductor industry. Analyzing US-issued patents divided into three eras (six-inch with precedent, eight-inch, and twelve-inch chip), this study discovers that the patent growth of this industry is significant during the period from 1997 to 2004. The “Core Actor” includes seven assignees such as AMD, IBM, INTEL, Micron Technology, Samsung Electronics, TSMC Taiwan, Toshiba with higher knowledge in/out flow in both eight-inch and twelve-inch eras. Among the 11 company clusters formed by co-assignees with voluntary knowledge spillover over eight- and twelve-inch eras, nine clusters belong to Japanese companies. This suggests that in this industry, Japanese companies present a closer relationship. The voluntary knowledge–flow relationships refer to the relationships de facto and they could be used to monitor technological knowledge relationship among competitors. In addition, the potential technology R&D partner could be selected as a chance of cooperation through the process of referencing involuntary knowledge–flow network which indicates technology overlaps among companies.

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