Abstract
Based on a unique dataset of China's granted patents, we explore the role of inventors' gender diversity in patent transfers. We find that city-level inventor-gender diversity promotes patent transfer. Using data from China's 283 prefectural cities, our mechanism analysis reveals that that a gender-diverse inventor group is better at producing radical innovations and forming larger R&D collaboration networks, especially for cross-regional collaboration, which increases the commercial potential and lowers transaction costs of patents. We also find that the cultural contexts, including male-offspring preference, religion, and Confucian cultures, mediate the effect of inventor-gender diversity on patent transfers. Our findings illustrate that increasing the participation of women in scientific and technological careers benefits the commercialization of intellectual property.