Reach for the stars: disentangling quantity and quality of inventors’ productivity in a multifaceted latent variable model

Abstract Star inventors generate superior innovation outcomes. Their capacity to invent high-quality patents might be decisive beyond mere productivity. However, the relationship between quantitative and qualitative dimensions has not been exhaustively investigated. The equal odds baseline (EOB) framework can explicitly model this relationship. This work combines a theoretical for creative production with recent calls in patentometrics literature multifaceted measurement of ability create patents. EOB is extended analyzed through structural equation modeling. Specifically, we compared single latent variable quality, two-dimensional that distinguishes technological complexity value invention portfolios. had better fit but weaker factor scores (for “value” variable) than unidimensional model. These findings suggest both uni- approaches directly used extending research on star inventors, while practical high-stakes assessments would require further improvements.