Estimating the benefits from collaboration: The case of SEMATECH

SEMATECH (SEmiconductor MAnufacturing TECHnology) was established in 1987 as a not-for-profit research consortium with an original mission to provide a pilot manufacturing facility where member companies could improve their semiconductor manufacturing process technology. Since its inception, SEMATECH's mission has become more general. This paper presents the findings from a quantitative case-based analysis of the returns to member companies from their investments in SEMATECH. The findings suggest that SEMATECH has provided an organizational structure in which important processes and technologies have been advanced which could not have been justified on economic grounds outside of a collaborative research arrangement.     

Why are governmental R&D and private R&D complements?

It is well known that government R&D and private R&D have a complementary relationship. However, no previous study has provided an explanation for why that complementary relationship exists. This paper argues that infratechnology is the critical link between governmental and private R&D and that the observed complementarity is the result of technical complementarity at the production level between funding, infratechnology, and knowledge sharing. A theoritical framework based on this argument is developed and examined empirically for supporting evidence. Evidence of technical complementary is found as well as evidence that governmental R&D stimulates the sharing of knowledge.     

The fountain of knowledge: an epistemological perspective on the growth of U.S. SBIR-funded firms

The premise of this paper is that a basis for firms receiving Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) research awards to develop commercializable technologies is not only their proposed creative ideas but also their endowment of attendant knowledge necessary to develop the technology being proposed. Based on this premise, we propose that those firms that have higher growth rates attributable to their SBIR awards are also those firms that are more creative and have more knowledge endowments. Empirically, we quantify a firms creativity and its sources of research knowledge in terms of its past experiences, and we find that firms with more technical experience and sector experience are those that have realized higher growth rates from their SBIR-funded research.

     

The economics of university research parks

In recent years, there has been a substantial increase in publicand private investment in university research parks (URPs).URPs are important as an infrastructural mechanism for the transferof academic research findings, as a source of knowledge spillovers,and as a catalyst for national and regional economic growth.We present international evidence on the growth of URPs, reviewthe academic literature on URPs, and outline an agenda for additionaltheoretical and empirical research on this topic.     

Leveraging entrepreneurship through private investments: does gender matter?

Using project data from a random sample of Phase II research awards from the National Institutes of Health SBIR program, we estimate the relative probability that woman-owned firms are able to attract private investments to fund the transition of the technology developed under the sponsorship of the SBIR program to an innovation to enter the market. We find that women-owned firms are as much as 16% points less likely to attract private investment dollars compared to male-owned firms, factors excluding the size of the SBIR award held constant. Women-owned firms that received larger awards performed substantially better. Although the SBIR program has a legislated directive to increase the participation of woman-owned firms in the program, our findings suggest that it might not be sufficient to overcome market perceptions about the profitability of such investments actually bringing a developed technology to market.     

The use of literature-based innovation output indicators for research evaluation

This paper discusses the appropriateness of literature-based innovation output indicators in the evaluation arena, and it sets forth criteria against which to judge such appropriateness.This paper was motivated by discussions with Zoltan Acs regarding new concepts in innovation output measurement and the implications of those concepts for small firms.     

Transmission of Risk-Averse Behavior in Small Firms

Small-sized firms are typically more entrepreneurial and engage in more innovation and risk-taking behavior. For that reason they are considered the engines of future economic growth. One policy for stimulating such activity is to provide government contracts for small firms. However, such contracts as typically written result in increased risk-averse behavior on the part of small firms out of a desire by government officials to shift the risk to the firms. This, in turn results in a reduced level of innovative and entrepreneurial activity. To eliminate the disincentive to engage in innovation and entrepreneurial activity, government needs to bear the risk associated with such contracts. One possible solution, given the natural risk aversion of elected officials, is to engage in a portfolio approach to small firm contracts by which the government can diversify away some of the risk.