I'm stuck with some unexpected findings that seem to contradict what I (thought I) knew about multicollinearity. Among others in this post, the discussion of multicollinearity suggests that estimates remain unbiased and the variance and standard errors of the estimates will increase. This I always presumed that including multi-collinear variables makes it less likely to have significant effects.
Now my question is, under which conditions does the opposite happen?

Specifically, I am dealing with regressions in which I am trying to look at the contingent effect of direct and indirect ties in a collaboration network on the impact of inventions. I reproduce the outcomes of three regressions: In the first one, I only include direct ties dt, in the second one only indirect ties it, and in the third one I include dt and it (note both have a correlation of 0.87).

Code:
xtpoisson fwd log_assets log_breadth log_depth firm_prod degree struct team_deg team_str_hole team_size team_div team_sim team_mk claims num
> _cited_patents num_sbcls backcitation_struct lag it priv c.priv#c.priv pub c.pub#c.pub dt c.priv#c.dt c.priv#c.priv#c.dt c.pub#c.dt c.pub#c.
> pub#c.dt i.app_year i.grant i.tech_cat, fe robust
note: 10 groups (10 obs) dropped because of only one obs per group

Iteration 0:   log pseudolikelihood = -263803.46  
Iteration 1:   log pseudolikelihood = -244586.92  
Iteration 2:   log pseudolikelihood = -244120.53  
Iteration 3:   log pseudolikelihood = -244117.75  
Iteration 4:   log pseudolikelihood = -244117.75  

Conditional fixed-effects Poisson regression    Number of obs     =     39,785
Group variable: firm                            Number of groups  =        127

                                                Obs per group:
                                                              min =          2
                                                              avg =      313.3
                                                              max =      8,114

                                                Wald chi2(44)     =   55360.70
Log pseudolikelihood  = -244117.75              Prob > chi2       =     0.0000

                                          (Std. Err. adjusted for clustering on firm)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                    |               Robust
                fwd |      Coef.   Std. Err.      z    P>|z|     [95% Conf. Interval]
--------------------+----------------------------------------------------------------
         log_assets |  -.0421138   .0183623    -2.29   0.022    -.0781032   -.0061243
        log_breadth |  -.0621538   .0740653    -0.84   0.401    -.2073191    .0830115
          log_depth |  -.0143182   .0451562    -0.32   0.751    -.1028227    .0741862
          firm_prod |  -.0001577   .0000945    -1.67   0.095    -.0003428    .0000274
             degree |   .0003697   .0004692     0.79   0.431      -.00055    .0012894
             struct |  -.0872349   .0384485    -2.27   0.023    -.1625926   -.0118771
   team_degree_cent |  -.0000941   .0005957    -0.16   0.875    -.0012615    .0010734
      team_str_hole |   .0418548    .036082     1.16   0.246    -.0288646    .1125742
          team_size |    .037857   .0061041     6.20   0.000     .0258932    .0498208
           team_div |   .0015678   .0583958     0.03   0.979    -.1128859    .1160214
           team_sim |  -.0420113   .0478152    -0.88   0.380    -.1357274    .0517047
            team_mk |   .0080637   .0122664     0.66   0.511     -.015978    .0321053
             claims |   .0065597   .0005373    12.21   0.000     .0055065    .0076129
  num_cited_patents |   .0014349   .0003425     4.19   0.000     .0007637    .0021061
          num_sbcls |   .0210066   .0026866     7.82   0.000      .015741    .0262721
backcitation_struct |   .0046322   .0054924     0.84   0.399    -.0061328    .0153971
                lag |    .001186   .1057822     0.01   0.991    -.2061433    .2085153
                 it |    -.02097   .0265965    -0.79   0.430    -.0730983    .0311582
               priv |   .4264326   .1077134     3.96   0.000     .2153183     .637547
                    |
      c.priv#c.priv |  -.4015753   .1140479    -3.52   0.000    -.6251051   -.1780454
                    |
                pub |   .2271145    .070996     3.20   0.001     .0879649    .3662641
                    |
        c.pub#c.pub |  -.1989517   .0592801    -3.36   0.001    -.3151385   -.0827649
                    |
                 dt |   .0026489   .0044727     0.59   0.554    -.0061175    .0114153
                    |
        c.priv#c.dt |   .0065184   .0102537     0.64   0.525    -.0135786    .0266153
                    |
 c.priv#c.priv#c.dt |  -.0025707    .009038    -0.28   0.776    -.0202848    .0151434
                    |
         c.pub#c.dt |   .0055046   .0173412     0.32   0.751    -.0284835    .0394927
                    |
   c.pub#c.pub#c.dt |  -.0078393   .0186939    -0.42   0.675    -.0444787    .0288001
                    |
           app_year |
              2001  |  -.0546176   .1084301    -0.50   0.614    -.2671367    .1579014
              2002  |   -.023543   .2147132    -0.11   0.913    -.4443732    .3972871
              2003  |  -.0025697   .3204385    -0.01   0.994    -.6306176    .6254782
              2004  |  -.1106726   .4307254    -0.26   0.797    -.9548789    .7335336
                    |
              grant |
              2001  |  -.3226067   .1814502    -1.78   0.075    -.6782426    .0330293
              2002  |  -.4679425   .2522891    -1.85   0.064      -.96242     .026535
              2003  |  -.5601343   .3512596    -1.59   0.111    -1.248591    .1283218
              2004  |  -1.296592   .4499721    -2.88   0.004    -2.178521   -.4146625
              2005  |  -.9112545   .5510036    -1.65   0.098    -1.991202    .1686928
              2006  |   -.953167   .6529846    -1.46   0.144    -2.232993    .3266594
              2007  |  -1.062879   .7565935    -1.40   0.160    -2.545775    .4200173
              2008  |  -1.142632   .8518252    -1.34   0.180    -2.812178     .526915
                    |
           tech_cat |
                 2  |   .4231011   .0461803     9.16   0.000     .3325894    .5136128
                 3  |   .2627944   .2686015     0.98   0.328    -.2636548    .7892437
                 4  |   .3656174   .0411299     8.89   0.000     .2850043    .4462306
                 5  |   .1058336   .0698564     1.52   0.130    -.0310824    .2427496
                 6  |   .1518013   .0784977     1.93   0.053    -.0020514    .3056541
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Code:
 xtpoisson fwd log_assets log_breadth log_depth firm_prod degree struct team_deg team_str_hole team_size team_div team_sim team_mk claims num
> _cited_patents num_sbcls backcitation_struct lag ///
> priv c.priv#c.priv pub c.pub#c.pub it c.priv#c.it c.priv#c.priv#c.it  c.pub#c.it c.pub#c.pub#c.it i.app_year i.grant i.tech_cat, fe robust
note: 10 groups (10 obs) dropped because of only one obs per group

Iteration 0:   log pseudolikelihood = -263803.46  
Iteration 1:   log pseudolikelihood = -244617.71  
Iteration 2:   log pseudolikelihood =  -244151.4  
Iteration 3:   log pseudolikelihood = -244148.57  
Iteration 4:   log pseudolikelihood = -244148.57  

Conditional fixed-effects Poisson regression    Number of obs     =     39,785
Group variable: firm                            Number of groups  =        127

                                                Obs per group:
                                                              min =          2
                                                              avg =      313.3
                                                              max =      8,114

                                                Wald chi2(43)     =   43653.67
Log pseudolikelihood  = -244148.57              Prob > chi2       =     0.0000

                                          (Std. Err. adjusted for clustering on firm)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                    |               Robust
                fwd |      Coef.   Std. Err.      z    P>|z|     [95% Conf. Interval]
--------------------+----------------------------------------------------------------
         log_assets |  -.0417972   .0184625    -2.26   0.024    -.0779831   -.0056114
        log_breadth |  -.0609179    .074052    -0.82   0.411    -.2060571    .0842213
          log_depth |  -.0139061   .0451387    -0.31   0.758    -.1023763    .0745641
          firm_prod |  -.0001575   .0000948    -1.66   0.097    -.0003434    .0000283
             degree |   .0003651   .0004677     0.78   0.435    -.0005516    .0012817
             struct |  -.0865138   .0385132    -2.25   0.025    -.1619983   -.0110293
   team_degree_cent |  -.0000917   .0006003    -0.15   0.879    -.0012682    .0010849
      team_str_hole |   .0408362   .0358463     1.14   0.255    -.0294212    .1110935
          team_size |   .0373599   .0063835     5.85   0.000     .0248486    .0498713
           team_div |   .0025884   .0604123     0.04   0.966    -.1158175    .1209943
           team_sim |  -.0415313   .0475202    -0.87   0.382    -.1346692    .0516065
            team_mk |   .0075196   .0118594     0.63   0.526    -.0157243    .0307636
             claims |   .0065466   .0005445    12.02   0.000     .0054794    .0076138
  num_cited_patents |   .0014235   .0003391     4.20   0.000     .0007589     .002088
          num_sbcls |   .0210129   .0026838     7.83   0.000     .0157527    .0262731
backcitation_struct |   .0050463   .0056992     0.89   0.376     -.006124    .0162165
                lag |   .0015166   .1058611     0.01   0.989    -.2059674    .2090006
               priv |   .4084412   .1079815     3.78   0.000     .1968013    .6200812
                    |
      c.priv#c.priv |  -.3834548   .1167273    -3.29   0.001    -.6122361   -.1546735
                    |
                pub |   .2400234   .0716232     3.35   0.001     .0996444    .3804024
                    |
        c.pub#c.pub |  -.2132266   .0570253    -3.74   0.000    -.3249941    -.101459
                    |
                 it |  -.0070345   .0077406    -0.91   0.363    -.0222058    .0081368
                    |
        c.priv#c.it |  -.0211951   .0935572    -0.23   0.821    -.2045638    .1621736
                    |
 c.priv#c.priv#c.it |   .0148457   .0691849     0.21   0.830    -.1207542    .1504456
                    |
         c.pub#c.it |   .1324775   .0920244     1.44   0.150    -.0478869     .312842
                    |
   c.pub#c.pub#c.it |  -.1396024    .072464    -1.93   0.054    -.2816292    .0024244
                    |
           app_year |
              2001  |  -.0545978   .1084881    -0.50   0.615    -.2672305    .1580349
              2002  |  -.0236868   .2148361    -0.11   0.912    -.4447579    .3973842
              2003  |  -.0021412   .3206502    -0.01   0.995    -.6306041    .6263217
              2004  |  -.1102924   .4309893    -0.26   0.798    -.9550158     .734431
                    |
              grant |
              2001  |  -.3217998   .1813656    -1.77   0.076    -.6772698    .0336703
              2002  |  -.4677767   .2523486    -1.85   0.064    -.9623709    .0268175
              2003  |  -.5597596   .3512835    -1.59   0.111    -1.248263    .1287434
              2004  |  -1.296205   .4500562    -2.88   0.004    -2.178299   -.4141108
              2005  |  -.9120754   .5512629    -1.65   0.098    -1.992531      .16838
              2006  |  -.9536463   .6532563    -1.46   0.144    -2.234005    .3267125
              2007  |  -1.063942    .756966    -1.41   0.160    -2.547568    .4196842
              2008  |  -1.143782   .8523521    -1.34   0.180    -2.814361    .5267978
                    |
           tech_cat |
                 2  |   .4247155   .0460621     9.22   0.000     .3344355    .5149954
                 3  |   .2651247   .2684868     0.99   0.323    -.2610997    .7913492
                 4  |   .3663356    .041281     8.87   0.000     .2854264    .4472449
                 5  |    .104499   .0699651     1.49   0.135    -.0326301    .2416281
                 6  |   .1533703   .0775916     1.98   0.048     .0012936     .305447
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Code:
 xtpoisson fwd log_assets log_breadth log_depth firm_prod degree struct team_deg team_str_hole team_size team_div team_sim team_mk claims num
> _cited_patents num_sbcls backcitation_struct lag ///
> priv c.priv#c.priv pub c.pub#c.pub dt it c.priv#c.dt c.priv#c.priv#c.dt c.priv#c.it c.priv#c.priv#c.it c.pub#c.dt c.pub#c.pub#c.dt c.pub#c.i
> t c.pub#c.pub#c.it ///
> i.app_year i.grant i.tech_cat, fe robust
note: 10 groups (10 obs) dropped because of only one obs per group

Iteration 0:   log pseudolikelihood = -263803.46  
Iteration 1:   log pseudolikelihood = -244485.64  
Iteration 2:   log pseudolikelihood = -244016.26  
Iteration 3:   log pseudolikelihood = -244013.44  
Iteration 4:   log pseudolikelihood = -244013.44  

Conditional fixed-effects Poisson regression    Number of obs     =     39,785
Group variable: firm                            Number of groups  =        127

                                                Obs per group:
                                                              min =          2
                                                              avg =      313.3
                                                              max =      8,114

                                                Wald chi2(48)     =   65473.80
Log pseudolikelihood  = -244013.44              Prob > chi2       =     0.0000

                                          (Std. Err. adjusted for clustering on firm)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                    |               Robust
                fwd |      Coef.   Std. Err.      z    P>|z|     [95% Conf. Interval]
--------------------+----------------------------------------------------------------
         log_assets |  -.0416536   .0185879    -2.24   0.025    -.0780853   -.0052219
        log_breadth |   -.063431   .0738539    -0.86   0.390     -.208182      .08132
          log_depth |  -.0137816   .0450594    -0.31   0.760    -.1020963    .0745332
          firm_prod |  -.0001579   .0000946    -1.67   0.095    -.0003433    .0000275
             degree |   .0003798   .0004742     0.80   0.423    -.0005497    .0013093
             struct |  -.0864763   .0388271    -2.23   0.026    -.1625761   -.0103765
   team_degree_cent |  -.0001107   .0005991    -0.18   0.853    -.0012849    .0010635
      team_str_hole |   .0414972   .0363237     1.14   0.253    -.0296959    .1126903
          team_size |   .0378755   .0061385     6.17   0.000     .0258443    .0499068
           team_div |   .0007188   .0581518     0.01   0.990    -.1132566    .1146941
           team_sim |  -.0402486   .0477124    -0.84   0.399    -.1337633    .0532661
            team_mk |   .0073269    .012242     0.60   0.550     -.016667    .0313208
             claims |   .0065359   .0005381    12.15   0.000     .0054813    .0075905
  num_cited_patents |   .0014213   .0003433     4.14   0.000     .0007484    .0020942
          num_sbcls |   .0209203    .002683     7.80   0.000     .0156617    .0261789
backcitation_struct |   .0062702   .0058392     1.07   0.283    -.0051744    .0177148
                lag |   .0012678   .1057345     0.01   0.990     -.205968    .2085035
               priv |   .3277654   .1057273     3.10   0.002     .1205437    .5349871
                    |
      c.priv#c.priv |   -.333851   .1163007    -2.87   0.004    -.5617962   -.1059058
                    |
                pub |   .3216886   .0734082     4.38   0.000     .1778112     .465566
                    |
        c.pub#c.pub |  -.2669564    .057914    -4.61   0.000    -.3804658   -.1534469
                    |
                 dt |   .0011642   .0054724     0.21   0.832    -.0095615      .01189
                 it |  -.0148946   .0319061    -0.47   0.641    -.0774295    .0476403
                    |
        c.priv#c.dt |   .0637551   .0240834     2.65   0.008     .0165524    .1109578
                    |
 c.priv#c.priv#c.dt |  -.0336542   .0185492    -1.81   0.070    -.0700099    .0027016
                    |
        c.priv#c.it |   -.352787   .1849786    -1.91   0.056    -.7153385    .0097644
                    |
 c.priv#c.priv#c.it |   .1721147   .1350795     1.27   0.203    -.0926363    .4368657
                    |
         c.pub#c.dt |  -.0737924   .0138189    -5.34   0.000    -.1008769   -.0467079
                    |
   c.pub#c.pub#c.dt |   .0548186   .0163733     3.35   0.001     .0227275    .0869098
                    |
         c.pub#c.it |   .5046088   .1258178     4.01   0.000     .2580105    .7512072
                    |
   c.pub#c.pub#c.it |  -.3730006   .0887886    -4.20   0.000    -.5470232    -.198978
                    |
           app_year |
              2001  |  -.0545112   .1084542    -0.50   0.615    -.2670774    .1580551
              2002  |  -.0231496   .2147579    -0.11   0.914    -.4440673    .3977681
              2003  |  -.0026099   .3203355    -0.01   0.993    -.6304559    .6252361
              2004  |  -.1108742   .4305263    -0.26   0.797    -.9546902    .7329418
                    |
              grant |
              2001  |  -.3247795   .1811756    -1.79   0.073    -.6798773    .0303182
              2002  |  -.4692111    .251969    -1.86   0.063    -.9630614    .0246391
              2003  |  -.5624661   .3507764    -1.60   0.109    -1.249975     .125043
              2004  |  -1.298661   .4493931    -2.89   0.004    -2.179455   -.4178663
              2005  |  -.9139517   .5503947    -1.66   0.097    -1.992705     .164802
              2006  |  -.9544268   .6524444    -1.46   0.144    -2.233194    .3243408
              2007  |  -1.065164   .7559497    -1.41   0.159    -2.546799    .4164698
              2008  |  -1.144925   .8512318    -1.35   0.179    -2.813308     .523459
                    |
           tech_cat |
                 2  |   .4252098    .046273     9.19   0.000     .3345164    .5159031
                 3  |   .2677324   .2693331     0.99   0.320    -.2601507    .7956155
                 4  |   .3684181   .0411073     8.96   0.000     .2878494    .4489868
                 5  |   .1054494    .070141     1.50   0.133    -.0320244    .2429231
                 6  |   .1546547   .0782129     1.98   0.048     .0013602    .3079493
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As you can see the interaction effects are ONLY significant when both are included. Any suggestions on how to interpret this?
Note that running a simple OLS on the log of the response variable has the same peculiar results, with only significant interactions when both direct and indirect ties are included.