We find strong evidence of peer influence in granting behaviors among patent examiners. In the face of a one standard-deviation increase in the inherent grant rate of her peers, an examiner in her first two years at the Patent Office will experience a 0.15 standard-deviation increase in her own grant rate. Moreover, we document a number of markers suggesting that such influences arise, in part, through knowledge spillovers, as distinct from peer-pressure mechanisms. Finally, drawing on variations in peer proximity due to the onset of telecommuting—both with respect to peer and focal examiner telecommuting experiences—we document evidence that examiner peer influences and knowledge flows are stronger when examiners work at the Patent Office, as opposed to working from home.

我们发现在专利审查员之间授予行为方面有同伴影响的有力证据。面对同龄人的固有资助率增加一个标准差的情况，审查员在专利局的头两年中，她自己的资助率将增加0.15个标准差。此外，我们记录了许多标记，这些标记暗示这种影响部分是通过知识溢出产生的，与同伴压力机制不同。最后，利用由于远程办公而产生的同伴邻近度的变化（相对于同伴和重点审查员的远程通勤经验），我们记录了证据，表明当审查员在专利局工作时，与工作相比，审查员对同业的影响和知识流动更强从家里。