Performance differentials within geographic clusters

Increasing evidence indicates that firms benefit from a location in a geographic cluster of similar firms. The literature is nearly silent, however, on whether agglomeration economies accrue symmetrically across clustered firms. Drawing from the knowledge-based view, we investigate which firms benefit most from agglomeration and discuss how the implications for entrepreneurs are significant if some firms benefit more from geographic agglomeration than others. We investigate three particular firm attributes that may accentuate or mitigate benefits tied to participation in a cluster. We test our hypotheses on a sample of biotechnology firms and find strong evidence that firms benefit asymmetrically. Younger firms and firms with higher knowledge stocks benefit more from agglomeration.     

Organisational modes for Open Innovation in the bio-pharmaceutical industry: An exploratory analysis

This paper investigates the adoption of Open Innovation in the bio-pharmaceutical industry, studying through which organisational modes it is put into practice and how these modes are interwoven with the different phases of drug discovery and development process. Two rounds of interviews with industry experts were carried out to develop a model describing the adoption of Open Innovation by bio-pharmaceutical companies. This framework was then applied to an extensive and longitudinal empirical basis, which includes data about the adoption of Open Innovation by the top 20 worldwide industry players, in the time period 2000-2007. The paper provides a thorough discussion of how bio-pharmaceutical firms have used different organisational modes (i.e. licensing agreements, non-equity alliance, purchase and supply of technical and scientific services) to enter into relationship with different types of partners (i.e. large pharmaceutical companies, product biotech firms, platform biotech firms and universities) with the aim to acquire (Inbound Open Innovation) or commercially exploit (Outbound Open Innovation) technologies and knowledge. The implications of the study for Open Innovation research and possible avenues for future investigation are discussed at length in the paper.     

The evolution and performance of biotechnology regional systems of innovation

The paper maintains that biotechnology regions develop as complexsystems: they start with star scientists in research universities,generating knowledge spillovers, then move progressively towardsregional technology markets. In the process they attract venturecapital (or modify the behaviour of existing venture capitalfirms with the addition of biotechnology portfolios). The routinesof universities are also modified with the addition of intellectualproperty and technology transfer offices intervening as sellersin the newly created knowledge markets. The paper also considerswhether companies located in regional agglomerations grow fasterthan isolated ones, and whether companies spun-off from universitieshave a better performance than start-ups. The study is basedon about 90 Canadian-based publicly quoted biotechnology companies.     

Toxicogenomic predictive modeling: Emerging opportunities for more efficient drug discovery and development

Drug discovery companies are coming under increasing pressure to prove the long-term safety of their products more precisely, and to provide more data on them. As highlighted by Vioxx, for many drugs, the existence of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) becomes apparent once the compound has been extensively prescribed and a population base of considerable size has been exposed to the therapeutic agent. The ability to make decisions regarding termination of clinical development of a non-viable drug candidate as early as possible will have a large financial impact for a pharmaceutical company. Knowledge regarding the interactions of chemicals, genes, and cell function can improve chemical risk analyses. These efforts will be aided by continued improvement and expansion of predictive toxicology in combination with a range of mutually supportive technologies to develop strategies to facilitate better and more focused decision-making throughout the drug discovery process. Failure to implement such an approach causes companies to withdraw drugs from development or the market. This not only presents human health consequences but also has a negative economic impact on the industry. As such, one of the major challenges in drug discovery is to accurately predict which new drugs will be associated with a significant incidence of ADRs. The ability to produce information on potential toxicity early in the discovery phase will become the basis for judging whether a drug candidate merits further development.     

The economics of biotechnology under ecosystem disruption

Economic analysis of chemical pesticide use has shown that the interactions between plants, pests, damage control technology and state of the ecosystem are important variables to be considered. Hence, a bio-economic model was developed for the assessment of Bt variety and pesticide-based control strategies of the cotton-bollworm in China. The model simulates plant growth, the dynamics of pest populations and of natural enemies. The model predictions are used as major inputs for a stochastic micro-level profit model of alternative control strategies.Results show that: (1) productivity effects of Bt varieties and pesticide use depend on the action of natural control agents, and (2) the profitability of damage control measures increases with the severity of ecosystem disruption. The findings highlight the importance of the choice of the counterfactual scenario in the assessment of the impact of agricultural biotechnology. Also, some doubts are raised whether the high benefits of Bt cotton varieties claimed by previous studies based on cross section comparisons are realistic.     

Research Note: Adolescents' perceptions of food chemical risks

A questionnaire measuring attitude towards four categories of food chemicals (colourings, flavourings, pesticides and fertilizers), level of concern for the environment, dietary habits and reasons for food choice was administered to 932 high school students aged 12-15 years during regular classroom periods. Students also indicated whether they could recall classroom teaching on 15 food and health related issues. Scores were derived representing self-reported frequency of eating (a) foods that were high in fat, or (b) fresh fruits and vegetables. Along with a measure of environmental concern, these were entered as covariates in the analysis of attitudes towards the different classes of additives. Age and gender had little effect on these attitudes. However, more positive attitudes towards both colourings and flavourings were associated with more frequent consumption of 'fat' foods and less frequent consumption of 'fresh' foods. Those with higher 'fat' diets also evaluated the use of pesticides more positively, whereas those expressing greater environmental concern were more opposed to flavourings, fertilizers and (marginally) pesticides. With regard to reasons for food choice, those with higher 'fat' and lower 'fresh' diets appeared to place more weight on pleasure than on nutritional information, whereas those higher on environmental concern paid more attention to labelling and food value. Older students were more able to choose their own diet, but attended less to the health value of the foods they chose, and expressed less trust in food labelling and government control. These findings suggest that judgements of risk are guided by evaluative associations, derived partly from more general attitudes and previous behaviour.     

Perception of gene technology,and food risks: results of a survey in Switzerland

Perceptions of and attitudes toward genetically engineered food and other food hazards were examined through data from telephone interviews conducted in Switzerland. A random quota sample was used ( N v = v 1001). General attitudes toward technology and political beliefs significantly influenced perceptions of gene technology. Women were more concerned about gene technology and food risks than men were. The term 'gene technology' evoked neutral or negative associations in most people; few people held positive images regarding this technology. Perception and acceptance of gene technology varied according to the type of application; people were less concerned about convenience or processed food. Although it is mandatory to label genetically modified food in Switzerland, relatively few people were familiar with this label. Participants assessed various food risks, and principal components analysis indicated that they distinguished between technological and natural food risks. Implications of these results are discussed.     

Spontaneous vs. policy-driven: The origin and evolution of the biotechnology cluster

The biotechnology industry is at the heart of the fast-growing knowledge-based economy. One of the distinguishing characteristics of this industry is clustering. A cluster, like an organism, experiences origin, growth, and decline/reorientation. Our study constructs a framework to analyze biotechnology clusters with different origins, “spontaneous” and “policy-driven”, through their life cycles. We use the Bay Area in the United States and Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park in China as two cases to represent spontaneous and policy-driven biotechnology clusters. This study fills the gap in the literature by comparing these two types of biotechnology clusters in an evolutionary perspective. The key success factors of both biotechnology clusters are their own human and financial capital, but they differ in their underlying processes for creating and sharing these resources. The most fundamental differences arise from the impact of entrepreneurship, social capital and network patterns on the cluster's configuration.     

产业特性与专利联盟经济效率

由互补性专利形成的专利联盟能够克服“专利丛林”问题、提高纵向产业链经济效率,这一结论是对专利联盟的一般共识。以生物技术产业为例,从产业特性角度,分析在存在溢出效应和产品差异化的情况下,由互补性专利组成的专利联盟经济效率问题。研究发现,当专利联盟的形成导致溢出效应很大且最终产品近似可替代时,由互补性专利组成的专利联盟会降低社会总福利水平,这为专利联盟的反垄断规制审查提供了一种新的理论见解。     

产学研合作对共性技术研发创新影响的实证检验

以生物技术领域专利为例,采用共性技术专利作为因变量,构建Logit回归模型,实证检验了产学研合作对共性技术研发创新的影响。结果表明：产学研合作对共性技术专利的研发供给具有显著正向影响,且产学研合作共性技术研发明显优于企业单独研发形式。应充分发挥产学研合作的积极作用,实现产业共性技术突破,提升产业竞争力。