New Biotechnology Firms in Germany: Heidelberg and the BioRegion Rhine-Neckar Triangle

In Germany, in the second half of the nineties, a dynamic development of commercial biotechnology took place, undertaken by a considerable number of new firms. The following article deals with the foundation of biotechnological firms in the BioRegion Rhine-Neckar Triangle (with the center in Heidelberg). For a long time, the development of biotechnology in Germany and in the Rhine-Neckar Triangle was hindered by institutional barriers. The main reasons were the narrowing of company strategies of big chemical and pharmaceutical firms, the low impulses to found biotechnology companies out of academic research, the institutional surroundings not aligned to the needs of biotechnology (e.g. no venture capital market) and finally government restraints concerning the specific and particularly regional concentrated support of biotechnology. These particularities are also reflected by the structure of the population of young companies in the Rhine-Neckar Triangle. The main emphasis of biotechnology firms is placed on technological services (research on demand) and platform technologies, different sub-areas of therapeutics research (pharmaceutical basic materials, finding active substances), on the production for the diagnostics industry and on bioinformatics. These companies do not co-operate much, national and international relations predominate. Only a few scientists of regional research institutions want to found a biotechnology firm, although the region seems to attract a certain number of company founders from other regions.     

The Role of Small Firms in U.S. Biotechnology Clusters

The biotechnology industry poses a particular challenge to analysis because its origins were poorly understood or even noticed at the time. The purpose of this paper is to examine and make sense of recent developments in the U.S. biotechnology industry. The pioneers and subsequent followers in biotechnology came from other fields. They altered their career trajectories in sciences like genetics and medical research to enter an unknown and undefined field, which only subsequently became labeled as biotechnology. Those regions exhibiting the greatest success in developing biotechnology clusters also possessed the greatest ability to unleash the potential commercialization latent in those scientists. To generate a successful regional cluster, the existence of world class scientific talent is a necessary condition. However, it is not a sufficient condition. The ancillary or complementary factors must also be available to translate this knowledge into a commercialized product. The complementary factors include the presence of venture capital and other forms of finance, the existence of an entrepreneurial culture, and transparent and minimal regulations fostering the start-up and growth processes.     

On the Growth of Micro and Small Firms: Evidence from Sweden

The relationship between the size, age and growth rate of firms is examined for a large sample of micro and small firms in Sweden. These firms have between 1–100 employees and operate in a geographically concentrated area. Micro and small firms are dominant in the industrial structure and thus their growth patterns are crucial to the economic growth of the region. The period of study is of particular interest because it allows us to evaluate the effects of various regional development policy programs on the growth and formation of firms. The data is an unbalanced panel covering the period 1993–1998. We allow for the exit and entry of firms. The growth rate is defined in terms of the number of employees, sales and assets. In the estimation of the growth rate we control for various factors characterizing the sample firms, their capital structure, performance, human capital, and local labor market conditions. Our results show that the relationship between the growth, size and age of firms is very sensitive with respect to the method of estimation, functional form and definition of growth and size.     

Science Park Location and New Technology-Based Firms in Sweden – Implications for Strategy and Performance

One logical way to assess the performance of Science Parks is to compare the performance of their firms to similar firms not located there. A total of 273 new technology-based firms (NTBFs) were surveyed, of which 134 were on a Science Park and 139 were not on a park. There were significant differences in the means of strategy dimensions between the on-Park and off-Park firms. It can be seen that the NTBFs who located in Science Parks showed significantly greater emphasis on firm characteristics as innovation ability, competitor- and market-orientation, sales and employment growth, high profits etc. The differences indicates a slight advantage for the Science Park firms. The off-Park sample reported proximity to other firms to be of higher importance than the on-Park sample in their choice of location. However, these differences do not show any clear pattern, making it difficult to understand if NTBFs who locate on Science Parks are systematically looking for something different in their location.     

A Dynamic Model of Size Distribution of Firms Applied to U.S. Biotechnology and Trucking Industries

The present paper attempts to contribute to the existing literature on industry dynamics by proposing a tractable structure for the analysis of the dynamic process governing the size distribution of firms. An analytical model is proposed which describes the density of the cross-sectional distribution of firm size within an industry. The model is based on the theory of diffusion processes, and the method illustrates how information on the time-evolution of size distribution of firms over an extended period of time can be used to make inferences about an underlying process. An empirical application to the evolution of size distribution of population of firms in (i) the U.S. biotechnology industry, and (ii) the U.S. interstate for-hire trucking industry illustrates the applicability of the proposed model in industry studies.     

Survival and Growth Patterns among New Technology‐Based Firms: Empirical Study of Cohort 2006 in Sweden

This study investigates the survival and growth trends in a cohort of new technology‐based firms (NTBFs) established in Sweden in 2006. This cohort has faced both an economic upswing and a severe downturn, which started in 2008, and by 2014 provides 8 years of historical records. Our study makes several contributions to the current understanding of NTBF survival and growth. First, our empirical observations show that many NTBFs (72 percent) from the 2006 cohort were still operating at the end of 2014, indicating a much higher survival rate than those found in previous studies. Second, surviving firms from the 2006 cohort positively affected employment, as their annual job creation was higher than the reduction in employment caused by exiting firms. Third, very few companies experienced high‐growth during their first 7 years, and employment growth and sales growth were highly correlated among high‐growth firms.     

European Family Firms in International Business: British and Greek Tramp-Shipping Firms

This article traces the similar paths and common characteristics of British and Greek tramp-shipping companies over the last 130 years through a comparative and international perspective. Despite the tendency of companies to adopt corporate and managerial forms, British and Greek tramp-shipping firms remained first and foremost family firms. The strength and the viability of these firms were networks, on a local, national and international level – networks whose cohesion was based on trust and a particular business culture that was developed in the maritime regions whence they came, centred on family firms involved in international business.     

生物技术在食品检测中的应用

食品安全关系广大民众的切身利益,更关系到国家经济社会的平稳发展和社会的安定团结。随着生活水平的不断提高,人们对食品问题的关注程度也逐渐增加。因此,依靠生物技术手段进行准确、便捷的食品检测便应运而生。本文介绍几种常用的生物技术检测手段,给相关领域工作者提供参考和帮助。     

生物技术在食品检测中的应用

随着世界的发展与进步,人们生活变得越来越便利,与此同时,社会问题也越来越突出,其中食品安全问题日益严重,无论是国家还是平常百姓都给予了高度的关注。传统的食品检测方法已经不能适应现代社会的发展要求,因此为了满足社会的发展需要,将生物技术运用在食品检测中,将生物技术所具有的特异性强、效率高、成本低等特点充分发挥出来,促进食品检测的有效进行。基于此,以此为出发点,对食品检测中如何应用好生物技术提出相关策略。     

Foreign Investment in Accounting Firms

According to Catalogue for the Guidance of Foreign Investment Industries promulgated by the State in 2002, Sino-foreign cooperatives and partnerships in accounting and auditing firms are allowed while equity join venture and wholly foreign- owned accounting and auditing firms are not allowed.     

生物技术在食品检测中的应用

生物技术具有特异性强、效率高、成本低等特点,是未来食品检测的主要发展方向。基于此,立足于生物技术,分析和探讨生物技术在食品检测中的有效应用,希望对于提高食品检测水平有所帮助。     

生物技术在食品检测方面的运用探析

随着现代社会的不断发展,我国经济发展迅速,人民生活水平不断提高,但伴随着各种食品安全问题频现,三鹿奶粉,苏丹红等危害着广大人民的身体健康,面临这样的严峻状况,我国对食品检测也愈来愈重视。其中,国家引进了大量生物检测仪器与技术用于食品检测,以提高食品检测的准确性,生物技术的应用不仅提高了检测的准确性,更为食品检测提供了新的方向。下文中将对生物检测常用的生物技术进行介绍。     

食品检验中生物技术的应用分析

生物检测技术凭借迅速、准确和安全等优势开始在食品安全检测中得到广泛运用,逐渐成为食品安全检测中的主要手段。目前食品检验中使用的生物技术包括生物芯片、PCR、免疫学探测和生物传感器等技术,本文将分析几种主要的生物技术在食品检验中的应用,并指出现代生物技术在食品检验中的未来发展趋势。     

瑞典的"商俗"

瑞典的商人通常不希望外国的商务伙伴和自己有太大的差异，无论是管理手段、行为举止，还是仪表衣着等方面。如果瑞典的商人得知自己的“商俗”和对手差很多，十有八九他们会十分惊讶，而且生意可能因不同商俗也变得难做了。因此，在和瑞典商人做生意之前，一定要研究一下他们的“商俗”，入乡随俗，才好办事。     

The Internationalization of Service Firms in China: A Comparative Analysis with Manufacturing Firms

In this article, we expand upon the springboard perspective of emerging markets in the service sector. We investigate the phenomenon of service firm internationalization in China and the distinct differences between service and manufacturing firms during international expansion. Using dynamic analysis of historical data for 363 service firms and 569 manufacturing firms from 2001 to 2007, we find that the internationalization of service firms in China is different from that of manufacturing firms in terms of resource requirement and experience exploitation. The internationalization of service firms relies more on international experience than corporate resources. Furthermore, we also identify the structural differences between hard and soft service industries. In China, identifiable intangible assets are found to be more important for the international expansion of hard service firms than they are for soft service firms. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Forecast Rationality in Small Firms*

A large sample of small firms was longitudinally surveyed to investigate the rationality of revenue forecasts made within such firms. The analysis helps to address the dearth of research investigating owner/managers' forecasts of growth in firms and their degree of accuracy. Contrary to conventional expectations, the results do not support the contention that forecasts made by the managers of small firms are optimistic. Although systematic overestimation was not found, managers did tend to make forecasts that were generally too extreme, and tended to overextrapolate previous growth. These results are consistent with propositions that overconfidence biases and representative heuristics influence the revenue forecasts made in small firms.     

食品检测中生物技术的应用

随着经济社会的不断发展和进步,人们更加重视食品安全。当前,常规的食品安全检测技术已无法满足实际检测工作的需求,所以,食品检测中开始陆续使用各种新设备、新技术,其中生物检测技术凭借迅速、准确、安全等优势开始在食品安全检测中得到广泛运用,而逐渐成为食品安全监测中的主要力量。目前食品检测中使用的生物技术包括生物芯片、PCR、基因探针、免疫学探测和生物传感器等技术,本文将分析生物技术的含义及主要的几种技术在食品检测中的应用。