Although teamwork shows stronger innovation ability than individuals and this advantage has been increasing over time, the negative effects of larger teams also appear as the number of inventor members increases. This study discusses the double-edged sword role of inventor teams in innovation quality at two extremes: the high quality and the low quality. We argue that, inventor team size influences innovation quality because diversity works in the evolutionary process of innovation, but different types of diversity play distinct moderating roles in these relationships. Using patent data from the US pharmaceutical industry, empirical results show that there is an inverted U-shape relationship between inventor team size and high-quality innovation, and a negative relationship between inventor team size and low-quality innovation. These relationships are moderated at different degree by technological and geographic diversity. Our findings contribute to existing literature of innovation and also provide meaningful implications for innovation management.

中文翻译：

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越多越好？发明人团队规模、多样性和创新质量

虽然团队合作比个人表现出更强的创新能力，而且这种优势随着时间的推移而增加，但随着发明人人数的增加，团队规模的负面影响也出现了。本研究从两个极端讨论了发明团队在创新质量中的双刃剑作用：高质量和低质量。我们认为，发明团队规模会影响创新质量，因为多样性在创新的进化过程中起作用，但不同类型的多样性在这些关系中起着不同的调节作用。利用美国制药行业的专利数据，实证结果表明，发明团队规模与高质量创新呈倒U型关系，发明团队规模与低质量创新呈负相关关系。这些关系在不同程度上受到技术和地理多样性的影响。我们的研究结果有助于现有的创新文献，也为创新管理提供有意义的启示。