Technological Disclosure Versus Secrecy in an Emerging Technology Context

Integrating economic perspectives on intellectual property rights, institutional theory, and the resource-based view of the firm, our study illuminates the current debate on whether firms should disclose technological advances or keep them secret. First, we show that two key forms of technological disclosure–patents and academic publications–have different consequences for the timing of new emerging technology products. Second, we show how the importance of technological disclosure changed over time as an emerging technology evolved from a pre-standard to a post- standard stage.