Industry Life Cycle and the Evolution of an Industry Network

This paper addresses the problem of the general validity of models of the industry life cycle, which have been proposed to analyse the long-term evolution of many industries, exhibiting a typical pattern of shakeout. We study a case of non shake-out in the commercial jet aero-engine industry, marked by a small number of entry events distributed over 40 years of industry evolution, by no exits and by a resulting slowly increasing number of firms. We argue that the vertical structure of the industry, as represented by the network of vertical relations between aero-engine suppliers and aircraft manufacturers, "regulated" the process of entry and exit and posed the conditions for a non shakeout to take place.industry life cycle; entry, exit; network; vertical relations

Inventors and the Geographical Breadth of Knowledge Soillovers

This paper studies the geographical breadth of knowledge spillovers. Previous research suggests that knowledge spillovers benefit from geographical proximity in technologically active and rich regions more than elsewhere. An alternative view explains the geographical breadth of knowledge spillovers as a function of the characteristics and personal networks of the individuals. We test these two competing theories by using information provided directly by the inventors of 6,750 European patents (PatVal-EU survey). Our results confirm the importance of inventors’ personal background. However, compared to previous research, we find that the level of education of the inventors is key in shaping the geographical breadth of knowledge spillovers. Highly educated inventors rely more on geographically wide research networks than their less educated peers. This holds after controlling for the mobility of the inventors and for the scientific nature of the research performed. Differently, location matters only in the very rare regions in Europe that perform the bulk of the research in the specific discipline of the inventors.

Intellectual Property Rights and Market Dynamics

Two opposite models are currently operating in the modern economy, the strong intellectual property rights (IPR) model, and the open source/open science model. They have traditionally been applied to alternative institutional contexts. The strong IPR model has been associated to the business environment, while the open science model has been associated to the academic or research system. More recently, a strengthening of the IPR system has occurred in the public research system, and open science models have been adopted in private sectors like the open source software. This paper discusses these different models and their implications on the innovative activity of firms and economies, and the market dynamics. One of the main benefits deriving from a strong IPR system is that it encourages the entry of new technology-based firms and the commercialisation of technologies in markets for technologies. At the same time, an increased patent protection is also associated to potential costs, such as those arising from a excessive fragmentation of property rights, an abuse of patent protection for strategic reasons (sleeping and blocking patents), and an increase in litigation costs.Intellectual Property Rights, Patents, Patent Policy, Open Science, Open Source Software, Technology Commercialisation and Diffusion

The long term evolution of vertically-related industries

The paper develops the argument that the long-term structural evolution of an industry depends on the evolution of a vertically-related, downstream industry. We analyse two pairs of vertically-related industries, the jet and turboprop aircraft and engine industries, since the first introduction of the jet and turboprop technologies to 1998. The paper shows that the evolutionary dynamics of the downstream industry, in terms of number of firms and products, entry, exit and concentration, is transmitted to the upstream industry via the structure of the network of vertical exchange relations. We identify two network configurations, partitioned and hierarchical, and show that they are responsible for sharply different transmission effects. An econometric analysis is carried out to demonstrate this difference in the turboprop and jet markets.vertically-related industries; network; industrial concentration; entry; exit.

Inventors and the Geographical Breadth of Knowledge Spillovers

This paper studies the geographical breadth of knowledge spillovers. Previous research suggests that knowledge spillovers benefit from geographical proximity in technologically active and rich regions more than elsewhere. An alternative view explains the geographical breadth of knowledge spillovers as a function of the characteristics and personal networks of the individuals. We test these two competing theories by using information provided directly by the inventors of 6,750 European patents (PatVal-EU survey). Our results confirm the importance of inventors' personal background. However, compared to previous research, we find that the level of education of the inventors is key in shaping the geographical breadth of knowledge spillovers. Highly educated inventors rely more on geographically wide research networks than their less educated peers. This holds after controlling for the mobility of the inventors and for the scientific nature of the research performed. Differently, location matters only in the very rare regions in Europe that perform the bulk of the research in the specific discipline of the inventors.

Network Structure and Industrial Dynamics. The long-term evolution of the aircraft-engine industry

This paper proposes a new approach to explain the long-term evolution of a supplier industry. The network of vertical relations between suppliers and buyers is identified as a determinant of the concentration of the supplier industry and of the dynamics of market shares. The vertical structure of the industry is captured by collecting information on all vertical relations between dyads of firms and by building matrices of interaction for the aircraft-engine industry from 1953 to 1997. An econometric exercise is used to test some hypotheses about the relation between selected network measures and industrial dynamics.industrial dynamics; vertically-related industries; network; industrial concentration; market shares.

Learning, technological competition and network structure in the aero-engine industry

This paper provides a novel contribution for specifying the role of demand for technological competition. The focus is on the analysis of the mechanisms of technological learning and spillovers occurring in different structures of networks of vertically-related industries. The paper offers a detailed and original empirical analysis of technological competition among suppliers and structure of the network of two vertically related-industries, namely the commercial jet and turboprop aero-engine and aircraft industries. Technological performances of actors are measured through measures of output of the technological activity.-

Inventors and the Geographical Breadth of Knowledge Spillovers

This paper studies the geographical breadth of knowledge spillovers. Previous research suggests that knowledge spillovers benefit from geographical proximity in technologically active and rich regions more than elsewhere. An alternative view explains the geographical breadth of knowledge spillovers as a function of the characteristics and personal networks of the individuals. We test these two competing theories by using information provided directly by the inventors of 6,750 European patents (PatVal-EU survey). Our results confirm the importance of inventors' personal background. However, compared to previous research, we find that the level of education of the inventors is key in shaping the geographical breadth of knowledge spillovers. Highly educated inventors rely more on geographically wide research networks than their less educated peers. This holds after controlling for the mobility of the inventors and for the scientific nature of the research performed. Differently, location matters only in the very rare regions in Europe that perform the bulk of the research in the specific discipline of the inventors.education/geography/inventors/knowledge spillovers/patents

Increasing returns and network structure in the evolutionary dynamics of industries

The paper explores the idea that properties at the level of firms coevolve with more aggregate properties at the level of market institutions in the dynamics of industries. We propose that the structure of network of vertical relations limits the effect of increasing returns at the firm level. The paper develops a set of empirical measures and discusses a detailed case study of the commercial jet engine industry. The analysis of the structural dynamics of the network of vertical relations between engine suppliers and airframe manufacturers during the history of the industry (1958-1997) explains a final configuration of the industry marked by the coexistence of increasing returns to investments in R&D and marketing activities, with an intense competition among a few large incumbents, a low level of concentration and a strong instability of market shares. The emergence of a hierarchical network with a core and a periphery leads to equalisation of technical and market opportunities within the core and prevents incumbents to exit the industry.increasing returns; concentration; market shares; aircraft-engine industry; vertical relations; network.

Commercialisation Strategies of Technology based European SMEs: Markets for Technology vs. Markets for Products

This paper focuses on European small-medium "serial innovators" at the beginning of the 1990s and provides an empirical basis to answer the following questions: who are the upstream specialized small-medium technology producers? How are they distributed across countries? Are there technologies in which they show a relative advantage? By focusing on firms? history, activities, and the description of events obtained by different data sources, we also investigates if technology based SMEs choose to implement a strategy based on the commercialisation of their technologies or if they invest in the complementary assets of production, marketing and distribution becoming micro-chandlerian firms. Through this analysis we are able to propose a taxonomy of technology based SMEs? strategies in the market for technology, in the market for embedded technologies and in the market for products.SMEs, Technology Strategies, Licensing.