Centralization and Organization Reproduction: Ethnic Innovation in R&D Centers and Satellite Locations

We study the relationship between firm centralization and organizational reproduction in satellite locations. For decentralized firms, the ethnic compositions of inventors in satellite locations mostly resemble their host cities with little link to the inventor composition of their parent firms’ research and development headquarters. For highly centralized firms, by contrast, organizational reproduction has an explanatory power equal to half or more of the host city effect. Reproduction is strongest when a firm exhibits a hands-on approach to the satellite facility, such as cross-facility team collaboration or internal talent mobility.

History: This paper has been accepted for the Organization Science Special Issue on Migration & Organizations.

Funding: W. R. Kerr thanks the National Science Foundation, Harvard Business School, the Smith Richardson Foundation, and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation for financial support that made this research possible.

Supplemental Material: The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2021.16070.