The idea that looking at too many outside ideas kills innovation is actually a brand new problem—it didn't even exist ten years ago.
SSRN · March 16, 2026 · 6418152
Why it matters
Economists have long taught that companies have a 'sweet spot' for research and that looking too widely for ideas causes a drop in performance. This study of thousands of manufacturers reveals this paradox wasn't true in the early 2000s, suggesting that the 'limit' on information is a recent result of the digital age rather than a universal law of business.
From the abstract
The inverted-U relationship between external search breadth and innovation performance is among the most replicated findings in innovation studies. It has also been treated as timeless. This paper asks whether it is. Drawing on six waves of the Korean Innovation Survey (2008–2024), covering some 5,000 to 11,700 manufacturing firms depending on specification, we find that the curvilinear relationship is absent in the earlier period (2008–2014) and present in the later one (2020–2024). The turning