Stimuliert der BioRegio-Wettbewerb die Bildung von Biotechnologieclustern in Deutschland?

Regions with biotechnology-specific knowledge seem to have best chances to attract potential entrepreneurs to establish a biotechnology-firm. Furthermore, regional oriented technology policy is supposed to stimulate the creation process of biotechnology clusters, too. The BioRegio contest (BRC) is the most prominent example for this kind of policy support. The analysis tries to test both hypotheses empirically. Our estimation results are in accordance with expectations and empirical evidence for the US: Scientists at public research institutes are key players for the commercialization of radical biotechnology discoveries in the region of their place. BRC participating regions have best conditions to attract biotech companies on average. Further, exclusive financial support of BRC winning regions does not contribute significantly to cluster biotechnology industry stronger than in non-winning regions. --Biotechnology,start-ups,economic geography,technology policy,count data model

Do University Based Regions Really Attract Outside Entrepreneurs: The Case of the German Biotechnology Industry

The paper tests empirically the role of knowledge stocks to explain the regional distribution of Germany?s biotechnology founders. We present an unique approach to highlight the role of knowledge spillovers as we differentiate according the local embeddedness and research affinity of founders. As expected, the results of our multivariate analysis indicate a high start-up activity in knowledge intensive regions. Group differentiation shows that knowledge stock variables matter only for academic founders inside as well as outside the region. In contrast, the start-up activity of non-academic founders coming from inside or outside the region cannot be explained with knowledge intensity of the region. Our empirical results suggest that knowledge spillovers matter, but these spillovers only attract founders with high affinity to research. --Biotechnology,start-ups,economic geography,intellectual capital,count data model

Do University Based Regions Really Attract Outside Entrepreneurs – The Case of the German Biotechnology Industry

The paper tests empirically the role of knowledge stocks to explain the regional distribution of Germany's biotechnology founders. We present an unique approach to highlight the role of knowledge spillovers as we differentiate according the local embeddedness and research affinity of founders. As expected, the results of our multivariate analysis indicate a high start-up activity in knowledge intensive regions. Group differentiation shows that knowledge stock variables matter only for academic founders inside as well as outside the region. In contrast, the start-up activity of non-academic founders coming from inside or outside the region cannot be explained with knowledge intensity of the region. Our empirical results suggest that knowledge spillovers matter, but these spillovers only attract founders with high affinity to research

The Birth of German Biotechnology Industry: Did Venture Capital run the Show?

The goal of this paper is to point out the role played by private equity investors (venture-capital companies and corporate investors) in the emergence of a new biotechnology industry in Germany in the second half of the 90?s. This analysis takes into account the different business models and business fields to be found in the biotechnology industry. Based on theoretical arguments, a great relevance of VC-companies in financing young innovative biotechnology firms developing health care applications and technology platforms is expected, whereas corporate investors like pharmaceutical and chemical industries should play a more important role in financing supplier companies. Corporate investors are also expected to be significantly present in the equity financing of health care biotechnology companies. Empirical results from descriptive and multivariate analyses confirm all hypotheses but one: surprisingly, corporate investors invested only marginally in the equity funding of biotechnology firms developing new health care products or services. --Start-ups,Biotechnology,Venture Capital,Discrete Choice

The Birth of German Biotechnology Industry – Did Venture Capital run the show?

We answer the questions, how many firms acting in the modern German biotechnology industry are funded by venture capital companies (VCC) as well as equity funded by corporate investors. The theory suggests a high relevance of VCC as venturing partner of high-tech projects. In addition we argue that corporate investors are a venturing partner of firms with high-risk projects to a lower extent.Incumbents,however, are confronted with some opportunities in the low-risk area of the biotechnology industry to secure an optimal supply for the current product pipeline.Our empirical results emphasize a crucial importance of venture capital as financial resource for high-risk projects: whereas 42 percent of all healthcare developer in the early stage are venture-backed firms, only a small share of low-risk projects received venture capital. The results for corporate investors are reversible.Fewer high-tech projects and more low-risk projects compared to VCC are equity financed by corporate investors. The econometric analysis suggests that the observed pattern is mainly driven by the level of project risk and hence, supports all our hypotheses.Biotechnology, Start-ups, Venture Capital, Discrete Choice

Stimuliert der BioRegio-Wettbewerb die Bildung von Biotechnologieclustern in Deutschland? Ergebnisse einer ökonometrischen Analyse

In der Diskussion um die Entstehung und Etablierung neuer Industrien wird der Region eine zentrale Bedeutung zu geschrieben. Einerseits hebt die neue Wachstumstheorie hervor, dass Orte der Wissensentstehung, aufgrund der partiellen Verfügbarkeit neuen Wissens, zugleich Orte der Kommerzialisierung von neuem Wissens sind. Andererseits kann der Wettbewerbsmechanismus bei der Auswahl von Regionen, ein stimulierendes Element für die Etablierungsphase einer neuen Industrie sein. Ein prominentes Beispiel der jüngeren Vergangenheit in Deutschland ist die Biotechnologieindustrie. Die moderne Biotechnologie, insbesondere die Gentechnologie, wird häufig als eine Schlüsseltechnologie des 21. Jahrhunderts bezeichnet. Der Beitrag befasst sich mit der empirischen Analyse des Zusammenhangs zwischen regionaler Ressourcenausstattung und der Etablierung der Biotechnologieindustrie der 90er Jahre in Deutschland

Public R&D Policy: The Right Turns of the Wrong Screw? The Case of the German Biotechnology Industry

The German biotechnology industry missed the accession of this key technology in the 1980s. Policy makers make different efforts to overcome shortcomings and recent gaps. Public funding schemes have been implemented to establish a flourish biotech industry in Germany. We assume that R&D policy was driven blind by the idea to catch up with world's biotech leaders and analyse if Germany's R&D policy lost its origins. We do examine, if Germany sacrifice economic funding principles, in particular not discriminating different kinds of 'risk' in the field of biotechnology. The study combines survey data of German biotech companies and public R&D funding data on the firm level. The results shed light on the factors which determine public R&D funding and firm's probability of being funded

The Birth of German Biotechnology Industry : Did Venture Capital run the Show?

The goal of this paper is to point out the role played by private equity investors (venture-capital companies an corporate investors) in the emergence of a new biotechnology industry in Germany in the second half of the 90's. This analysis takes into account the different business models and business fields to be found in the biotechnology industry. Based on theoretical arguments, a great relevance of VC-companies in financing young innovative biotechnology firms developing health care applications and technology platforms is expected, whereas corporate investors like pharmaceutical and chemical industries should play a more important role in financing supplier companies. Corporate investors are also expected to be significantly present in the equity financing of health care biotechnology companies. Empirical results from descriptive and multivariate analysis confirm all hypotheses but on: surprisingly, corporate investors invested only marginally in the equity funding of biotechnology firms developing new health care products or services

Unternehmensgründungen in der Biotechnologie in Deutschland 1991 bis 2004

Die vorliegende Dokumentation stellt die Ergebnisse eines Forschungsprojekts dar, das mit Hilfe eines neuen Ansatzes empirische Aussagen zur Struktur und Entwicklung von Unternehmensgründungen in der Biotechnologie in Deutschland zu gewinnen versucht hat. Mit Hilfe einer halbautomatisierten Textanalyse von Geschäftstätigkeitsbeschreibungen sollten Biotechnologie-Gründungen der Jahre 1991 bis 2004 identifiziert und anhand einer Reihe von Kennzahlen, die aus bereits vorliegenden Datenquellen gewonnen wurden, analysiert werden. Ein Untersuchungsschwerpunkt war dabei die Frage der Erfolgsfaktoren von Biotechnologie-Gründungen in Bezug auf Überleben und Beschäftigungswachstum, auch im Vergleich zu anderen Gründungen in der Hochtechnologie. Mit der Studie sollte auch geprüft werden, inwieweit der Ansatz dazu geeignet ist, das Gründungsgeschehen und die Unternehmensstruktur in einer Branche zu erfassen, die über die gängige Wirtschaftszweigsystematik nur unzureichend abgebildet werden kann, und Branchenanalysen unter Nutzung von Mikrodaten durchzuführen, ohne auf eine Befragung von Unternehmen zurückgreifen zu müssen

Lead Markt Deutschland : Zur Position Deutschlands als führender Absatzmarkt für Innovationen ; Endbericht

Lead Märkte sind regionale Märkte, auf denen in engem Zusammenspiel von Herstellern und lokalen Nutzern Innovationen eingeführt und weiterentwickelt werden, die sich später als international erfolgreich erweisen. Bei ihrem internationalen Siegeszug setzen sie sich gegen alternative Innovationsdesigns aus anderen Ländern durch und prägen schließlich das international "dominante Design", d.h. das Innovationsdesign, das sich zum weltweiten Standard entwickelt. Ein Design dabei ist eine spezifische technische Umsetzung einer Innovationsidee, z.B. ein Mobilfunkstandard