We examine the relationship between the gender composition of inventor teams and forward cita- tions and see that majority-female inventor patents receive 4-22% fewer citations than majority- male inventor patents. We explore the drivers of this gap and find that female inventors’ patents are less likely to be cited than patents with similar content granted to male inventors. This is primarily driven by applicant-added citations, and gender homophily in citation practices exacerbates the citation gap. We find evidence that patents by majority-female teams are less likely to be further developed, and consequently, are cited less frequently. This work has implications for our under- standing of the relationship between gender and the drivers of innovation, as well as the limitations of citations as a measure of patent impact.
