Udforsk vores viden

Chris­toph Grimpe

Head of Department

Emner
Innovation Iværksætteri Strategi

Primary research areas

In­nov­a­tion Strategy and Search

Intellectual Property, Technology Markets, and Corporate Acquisitions

International Business, Human Capital, and Innovation

Science, Technology and Innovation Policy

Connecting Innovation Research with Practice and Policy

Christoph Grimpe is a Professor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship and Head of the Department of Strategy and Innovation at CBS. Prior to joining CBS in 2010, he worked as a Senior Researcher at the Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) in Mannheim (Germany). He holds a PhD from WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management – in Vallendar (Germany) and master degrees in management and political sciences. His research has been published in journals such as the Academy of Management Journal, Strategic Management Journal, Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, Strategy Science, Journal of International Business Studies, Research Policy, as well as in Nature Biotechnology. He is affiliated with DRUID – the Danish Research Unit on Industrial Dynamics and with the Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW). He serves on the council of the Independent Research Fund Denmark. 

Primary Re­search Areas and Se­lec­ted Pub­lic­a­tions

Innovation Strategy and Search

My research examines how firms search for new knowledge and ideas and organize their innovation activities. I am particularly interested in how firms combine different knowledge sources and capabilities, coordinate collaborative search, and turn both planned and unexpected discoveries into innovation and value.

  • Grimpe, C., Hoisl, K., Mariani, M. & Sofka, W. (2026). From accidents to assets: The value pathways of patents for serendipitous inventions. Strategic Management Journal, forthcoming.
  • Carioli, P., Grimpe, C., Hoisl, K. & Sofka, W. (2026). Does innovation need advocacy? Stakeholder involvement in firm innovation. Strategic Management Journal, forthcoming.
  • Nijstad, B., Calic, G., de Faria, P., Grimpe, C. & Kauppila, O.-P. (2026). Connecting creativity and innovation research: Building bridges to cross divides. Research Policy, 55, 105391.
  • Conti, A., Grimpe, C., Operti, E. & Ross, J.-M. (2025). Sports as a context in strategy and innovation research: Promises, challenges, and broader implications. Industry and Innovation, 32, 965–978.
  • Grimpe, C., Murmann, M. & Sofka, W. (2019). Organizational design choices of high-tech startups – How middle management drives innovation performance. Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, 13, 359–378.
  • Olsen, A. Ø., Sofka, W. & Grimpe, C. (2017). Solving environmental problems: Knowledge and coordination in collaborative search. Long Range Planning, 50, 726–740.
  • Grimpe, C., Sofka, W., Bhargava, M. & Chatterjee, R. (2017). R&D, marketing innovation, and new product performance: A mixed methods study. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 34, 360–383.
  • Olsen, A. Ø., Sofka, W. & Grimpe, C. (2016). Coordinated exploration for grand challenges: The role of advocacy groups in search consortia. Academy of Management Journal, 59, 2232–2255.
  • Grimpe, C. & Sofka, W. (2016). Complementarities in the search for innovation: Managing markets and relationships. Research Policy, 45, 2036–2053.
  • Cleff, T., Grimpe, C. & Rammer, C. (2015). Identifying lead markets in the European automotive industry: An indicator-based approach. Industry and Innovation, 22, 496–522.
  • Waldner, F., Poetz, M. K., Grimpe, C. & Eurich, M. (2015). Antecedents and consequences of business model innovation: The role of industry structure. Advances in Strategic Management, 33, 347–386.
  • Ketata, I., Sofka, W. & Grimpe, C. (2015). The role of internal capabilities and firms’ environment for sustainable innovation: Evidence for Germany. R&D Management, 45, 60–75.
  • Köhler, C., Sofka, W. & Grimpe, C. (2012). Selective search, sectoral patterns, and the impact on product innovation performance. Research Policy, 41, 1344–1356.
  • Grimpe, C. & Kaiser, U. (2010). Balancing internal and external knowledge acquisition: The gains and pains of R&D outsourcing. Journal of Management Studies, 47, 1483–1509.
  • Sofka, W. & Grimpe, C. (2010). Specialized search and innovation performance – Evidence across Europe. R&D Management, 40, 310–323.
  • Grimpe, C. & Sofka, W. (2009). Search patterns and absorptive capacity: Low- and high-technology sectors in European countries. Research Policy, 38, 495–506.

Intellectual Property, Technology Markets, and Corporate Acquisitions

My research examines how firms protect, exchange, acquire, and create value from technological knowledge. This work focuses on patents and trade secrets, markets for technology, and mergers and acquisitions, and on how intellectual property rights and complementary knowledge assets shape value creation and capture.

  • Arroyabe, M. F., Grimpe, C. & Hussinger, K. (2025). Safeguarding secrets, shaping acquisitions: Trade secret protection and the role of distance between acquirer and target. Strategy Science, 10, 148–165.
  • Grimpe, C., Hussinger, K. & Sofka, W. (2023). Reaching beyond the acquirer-target dyad in M&A – Linkages to external knowledge sources and target firm valuation. Long Range Planning, 56, 102321.
  • Grimpe, C., Minssen, T., Price II, W. N. & Stern, A. D. (2022). Will mRNA technology companies spawn innovation ecosystems? Harvard Business Review, April 18, 2022.
  • Grimpe, C. & Hussinger, K. (2014). Resource complementarity and value capture in firm acquisitions: The role of intellectual property rights. Strategic Management Journal, 35, 1762–1780.
  • Grimpe, C. & Hussinger, K. (2014). Pre-empted patents, infringed patents, and firms’ participation in markets for technology. Research Policy, 43, 543–554.
  • Grimpe, C. & Hussinger, K. (2008). Pre-empting technology competition through firm acquisitions. Economics Letters, 100, 189–191.
  • Grimpe, C. (2007). Successful product development after firm acquisitions: The role of research and development. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 24, 614–628.
  • Grimpe, C. (2006). Making use of the unused: Shelf warmer technologies in research and development. Technovation, 26, 770–774.
  • Grimpe, C. (2004). When an R&D site closes. Research Technology Management, 47, 56–59.

International Business and Human Capital

My research in this area studies how firms access, organize, and retain knowledge and human capital across national and organizational boundaries. It focuses particularly on multinational firms, global value chains, employee mobility and labor-market outcomes, and the role of specialized human capital in innovation.

  • Cleckx, R., Grimpe, C., Leten, B. & Vancauteren, M. (2026). Offshoring’s hidden toll: Mental distress among onshore employees. Journal of International Business Studies, forthcoming.
  • Sofka, W., Grimpe, C. & Kaiser, U. (2026). Gender wage discrimination and the attractiveness of foreign MNC subsidiaries as employers for women. Journal of International Business Studies, 57, 173–196.
  • Grimpe, C., Sofka, W. & Kaiser, U. (2023). Competing for digital human capital – The retention effect of digital expertise in MNC subsidiaries. Journal of International Business Studies, 54, 657–685.
  • Kaiser, U., Sofka, W. & Grimpe, C. (2023). Creating marketing innovation abroad: The value of marketing professionals in foreign MNC subsidiaries. Industrial Marketing Management, 112, 145–159.
  • Sofka, W., Grimpe, C. & Kaiser, U. (2022). Understanding the unwritten rules of the game: Government work experience and salary premiums in foreign MNC subsidiaries. Journal of International Business Studies, 53, 1110–1132.
  • Belderbos, R. & Grimpe, C. (2020). Learning in foreign and domestic value chains: The role of opportunities and capabilities. Industrial and Corporate Change, 29, 1431–1450.
  • Grimpe, C., Kaiser, U. & Sofka, W. (2019). Signaling valuable human capital: Advocacy group work experience and its effect on employee pay in innovative firms. Strategic Management Journal, 40, 685–710.
  • Mendonça, J. & Grimpe, C. (2016). Skills and regional entrepreneurship capital formation: A comparison between Germany and Portugal. Journal of Technology Transfer, 41, 1440–1456.

Science, Technology and Innovation Policy

My research in this area investigates how knowledge is created, exchanged, and used across the boundaries of science, industry, and the public sector. It examines university–industry collaboration, openness and knowledge transfer, research funding and innovation policy, and the institutional arrangements that shape the production and societal use of scientific and technological knowledge.

  • Distel, A. P., Grimpe, C. & Poetz, M. (2026). From evidence to impact: The use of scientific research in policy documents. Research Policy, 55, Article 105426.
  • Lie, H. T., Egelie, K. J., Grimpe, C. & Sørheim, R. (2025). The fine print of collaboration: How contractual provisions govern IP and disclosure in publicly funded research. Research Policy, 54, 105336.
  • Cherif, R., Grimpe, C., Hasanov, F. & Sofka, W. (2023). Promoting innovation: The differential impact of R&D subsidies. Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, 23, 187–241.
  • Sofka, W., Grimpe, C., Hasanov, F. & Cherif, R. (2022). The effects of host-country R&D subsidies on R&D investments and innovation performance of MNC subsidiaries. Journal of International Business Policy, 5, 296–327.
  • Grimpe, C., Sofka, W. & Distel, A. (2022). SME participation in research grant consortia – The emergence of coordinated attention in collaborative innovation. Small Business Economics, 59, 1567–1592.
  • Beck, S., Grimpe, C., Poetz, M. & Sauermann, H. (2022). Introduction to the Special Issue on Open Innovation in Science. Industry and Innovation, 29, 131–135.
  • Beck, S. et al. (2022). The Open Innovation in Science research field: A collaborative conceptualisation approach. Industry and Innovation, 29, 136–185.
  • Beck, S. et al. (2021). Experimenting with Open Innovation in Science (OIS) practices: A novel approach to co-developing research proposals. CERN IdeaSquare Journal of Experimental Innovation, 5, 28–49.
  • Egelie, K. J., Lie, H. T., Grimpe, C. & Sørheim, R. (2019). Access and openness in biotechnology research collaborations between universities and industry. Nature Biotechnology, 37, 1413–1419.
  • Goel, R., Göktepe, D. & Grimpe, C. (2017). Who instigates university-industry collaborations? University scientists versus firm employees. Small Business Economics, 48, 503–524.
  • Czarnitzki, D., Grimpe, C. & Pellens, M. (2015). Access to research inputs: Open science versus the entrepreneurial university. Journal of Technology Transfer, 40, 1050–1063.
  • Czarnitzki, D., Grimpe, C. & Toole, A. (2015). Delay and secrecy: Does industry sponsorship jeopardize disclosure of academic research? Industrial and Corporate Change, 24, 251–279.
  • Aschhoff, B. & Grimpe, C. (2014). Contemporaneous peer effects, career age and the industry involvement of academics in biotechnology. Research Policy, 43, 367–381.
  • Grimpe, C. & Hussinger, K. (2013). Formal and informal technology transfer from academia to industry: Complementarity effects and innovation performance. Industry and Innovation, 20, 683–700.
  • Goel, R. K. & Grimpe, C. (2013). Active versus passive academic networking: Evidence from micro-level data. Journal of Technology Transfer, 38, 116–134.
  • Grimpe, C. (2012). Extramural research grants and scientists’ funding strategies: Beggars can’t be choosers? Research Policy, 41, 1448–1460.
  • Goel, R. K. & Grimpe, C. (2012). Academic entrepreneurship: Are all scientists created alike? Economics of Innovation and New Technology, 21, 247–266.
  • Edler, J., Fier, H. & Grimpe, C. (2011). International scientist mobility and the locus of knowledge and technology transfer. Research Policy, 40, 791–805.
  • Grimpe, C. & Patuelli, R. (2011). Knowledge production in nanomaterials: A spatial filtering approach. Annals of Regional Science, 46, 519–541.
  • Patuelli, R., Vaona, A. & Grimpe, C. (2010). The German East-West divide in knowledge production: An application to nanomaterial patenting. Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, 101, 568–582.
  • Grimpe, C. & Fier, H. (2010). Informal technology transfer from academia to industry: A comparison between Germany and the U.S. Journal of Technology Transfer, 35, 637–650.

Recent research projects

Outside activities

Uni­ver­sity of Zurich, 2010–present

Ex­ec­ut­ive edu­ca­tion

In­de­pend­ent Re­search Fund Den­mark, 2025–present

Coun­cil mem­ber

ZEW - Leib­n­iz Centre for European Eco­nom­ic Re­search, Man­nheim, 2010–present

Re­search as­so­ci­ate

De­loitte, Copen­ha­gen, 2021–present

Jury mem­ber of the com­pet­i­tion “Den­mark’s Best Man­aged Com­pan­ies”

Pat­ent­Plus, Ber­lin, 2021–present

Mem­ber of the Ad­vis­ory Board