Industrial Clustering and the Returns to Inventive Activity Canadian Biotechnology Firms, 1991-2000

We examine how industrial clustering affects biotechnology firms’ innovativeness, contrasting similar firms not located in clusters or located in clusters that are or are not focused on the firm’s technological specialization. Using detailed firm level data, we find clustered firms are eight times more innovative than geographically remote firms, with largest effects for firms located in clusters strong in their own specialization. For firms located in a cluster strong in their specialization we also find that R&D productivity is enhanced by a firm’s own R&D alliances and also by the R&D alliances of other colocated firms.Biotechnology, industrial clustering, knowledge spillovers, R&D productivity, strategic alliances

National culture and national savings: Is there a link?

We study the effect of national culture on economic decisions, focusing on GLOBE cultural dimensions of uncertainty avoidance and future orientation. Specifically, we study the effect of divergence between cultural values and practices (societal aspirations), on the aggregate savings decision. Using the life-cycle model of savings as our basic model, we find that societal aspirations are important in explaining national savings behavior. In particular, we show that societal aspirations relating to future orientation and uncertainty avoidance have a positive effect on the rate of savings. We interpret our findings to indicate that such societal aspirations lead to mistrust in the societal arrangements and institutions, and induce savings as a means of securing the future and reducing uncertainty. To substantiate this interpretation, we utilize the microfinance industry; showing that high societal aspirations are associated with preference for savings through member-owned microfinance institutions (MFIs) over savings through non-member-owned MFIs

Inventive and uninventive clusters: The case of Canadian biotechnology

We examine factors influencing the relative productivity of different geographic locations. Our analysis of the Canadian biotechnology industry during the 1990s reveals that inventive and uninventive locations are distinguishable within small geographic areas corresponding to roughly 7000 postal addresses. Inventive locations exhibit greater resource scale and technological focus, as well as greater emphasis on R&D investment and public and private collaboration. Comparison of inventive locations across three major metropolitan areas - Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal - indicates, however, that inventive locations vary in their emphasis on technological scale and focus relative to collaboration, and thus that location advantages can develop in distinctive ways.

When Is The Whole Bigger Than The Sum Of Its Parts? Bundling Knowledge Stocks For Innovative Success

As firms engage in building different R and D capabilities, they confront a crucial question: what configuration of knowledge stocks is most likely to increase innovative success? This article argues that the impact of one knowledge stock may depend not just on its level but also on the level of other stocks; furthermore, the interdependencies of firms\u27 existing knowledge stocks might explain performance differences.The authors measure the effects of three pairwise combinations of knowledge stocks on firm innovative success, and find, using an event-history analysis of 843 dedicated biotechnology firms during 1973-99, that one pair is complementary (i.e. intellectual and collaborative capital) and two pairs are substitutive (i.e. human and intellectual and human and collaborative capital).Viewing knowledge complementarities through such a lens gives rise to systems effects and explains when the whole is bigger (or smaller) than the sum of its parts. © 2008 Sage Publications