Blockbusters, Sequels and the Nature of Innovation

We would like to thank Ashish Arora, Victor Bennett, Evgenii Fadeev, Dan Gross, Sharique Hasan, Connie Helfat, Felix Poege, David Ridley, and Todd Zenger, as well as seminar participants at Duke University, University of Utah, NBER Productivity Lunch, and Munich Summer Institute for helpful comments and suggestions. We acknowledge with gratitude IQVIA Incorporated for their generous support and access to their data. The statements, findings, conclusions, views, and opinions contained and expressed herein are not necessarily those of IQVIA Incorporated or any of its affiliated or subsidiary entities. The statements, findings, conclusions, views, and opinions contained and expressed in this article are based in part on data obtained under license from the following IQVIA Incorporated or affiliate information service(s): IQVIA MIDASTM, IQVIA National Disease and Therapeutic IndexTM, IQVIA National Prescription AuditTM, IQVIA Health Incorporated or its affiliates. Higgins acknowledges support from the Louisiana Board of Regents Endowed Chairs for Eminent Scholars program. Author names are listed in alphabetical order. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Bureau of Economic Research.

• June 24, 2025