Are OECD Export Specialisation Patterns 'Sticky'? Relations to the Convergence-Divergence Debate

The aim of the present paper is twofold. We want to present and test a methodology capable to deal more satisfactorily with the question of stability of international export specialisation patterns and, secondly, we want to relate this issue to the convergence-divergence debate in growth theory and the rapidly increasing strand of literature on national systems of innovation.We conclude that the relative export structures are moving together in the long term. However, the speed of convergence is fairly slow, indicating that national export specialisation patterns are quite stubborn or 'sticky'. These findings are complementary to the new knowledge generated wit convergence-divergence debate in growth theory and the rapidly increasing strand of literature on natonal systems of innovation.Specialisation; International Trade Patterns; Growth and Trade

The Long Term Development of OECD Export Specialisation Patterns: De-specialisation and "Stickiness"

The paper examines an issue related to the discussion of national specificity - whether the group of OECD countries are characterised by a high degree of stability of their export specialisation patterns at the country level or not. During a period of nearly three decades from 1965 to 1992, 20 OECD countries are examined. In addition we test whether the countries, have become more or less specialised in terms of trade specialisation in the period in question. In order to fulfill these aims we examine the sensitivity for, firstly; the level of aggregation, and secondly; the kind of statistical methodology applied. In this context we distinguish between specialisation (or de-specialisation) in trade patterns on the one hand, and divergence (or on the contrary convergence) in trade patterns on the other. A specialisation process refers to a process in which specialisation intra-country becomes more dispersed (and counter-wise for de-specialisation). On the contrary, a divergence process refers to a process in which countries become more different in terms of specialisation in a particular sector, across countries (and counter-wise for convergence). The results show that elements of 'stickiness' and incremental change are combined for what concerns the intra-country analysis. In addition there is a (however slow) tendency for countries to de-specialise in terms of exports. The sector-wise results display convergence both in terms of beta- and sigma -convergence.Technological change; cumulativeness; international export specialisation patterns; nati

Technoligical Life Cycles Regional Clusters Facing Disruption

The phenomenon of technological life cycles is argued to be of great importance in the development of regional clusters. New 'disruptive' technologies may initiate the emergence of new regional industrial clusters and/or create new opportunities for further development of existing ones. However, they may also result in stagnation and decline of the latter. The term disruptive refers to such significant changes in the basic technologies that may change the industrial landscape, even in the shorter run. The paper examines the key features of a regional cluster, where the economic development patterns are quite closely related to the emergence of new key technologies.Technological life cycles, regional clusters, communication technology

Entrepreneurial Founder Effects in the Growth of Regional Clusters How Early Success is a Key Determinant

How can the growth of regional clusters be explained? This paper studies in great detail the growth of the wireless communication cluster in Northern Denmark. Unlike the dominant theories, we argue that initial success of the first firms are the main driving force behind the generation of new firms that eventually lead to the formation of clusters. The success of the first firms tends to generate spin-offs, which become successful themselves due to the background of the founders.Agglomeration, Clusters, Spin-offs, Knowledge Diffusion

Entry by Spinoff in a High-tech Cluster

Recently empirical studies have focused on how capabilities of new entering firms are important for the evolution of industries over time. The performance of new entrants appears to be significantly influenced by their pre-entry background. The general impression of the literature is that firms founded by former employees of successful incumbents have shown larger propensities to survive than other categories of new entrants. In the present paper, we use this approach to study the emergence and growth over the past three decades of a wireless telecommunications cluster around Aalborg in North Jutland, Denmark (NorCOM). The aim is to analyse the dominating forces behind the growth of NorCOM using detailed information about the founding events and organizational background of the individual entrants in the cluster. We show that the technological successes of firms in the region have powered a spinoff process, which can account for the majority of the growth in number of firms and employment in the cluster.Clusters, Spinoffs, Evolution of Industries, Entrepreneurs