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Why are Some Regions More Innovative than Others? The Role of Firm Size Diversity

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  • Ajay K. Agrawal
  • Iain M. Cockburn
  • Alberto Galasso
  • Alexander Oettl

Abstract

Large labs may spawn spin-outs caused by innovations deemed unrelated to the firm's overall business. Small labs generate demand for specialized services that lower entry costs for others. We develop a theoretical framework to study the interplay of these two localized externalities and their impact on regional innovation. We examine MSA-level patent data during the period 1975-2000 and find that innovation output is higher where large and small labs coexist. The finding is robust to across-region as well as within-region analysis, IV analysis, and the effect is stronger in certain subsamples consistent with our explanation but not the plausible alternatives.

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  • Ajay K. Agrawal & Iain M. Cockburn & Alberto Galasso & Alexander Oettl, 2012. "Why are Some Regions More Innovative than Others? The Role of Firm Size Diversity," NBER Working Papers 17793, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:17793
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    3. Matthias Firgo & Peter Mayerhofer, 2015. "Wissens-Spillovers und regionale Entwicklung - welche strukturpolitische Ausrichtung optimiert des Wachstum?," Working Paper Reihe der AK Wien - Materialien zu Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft 144, Kammer für Arbeiter und Angestellte für Wien, Abteilung Wirtschaftswissenschaft und Statistik.
    4. Diego Martínez-López & Manuel Palazuelos-Martínez, 2019. "Breaking with the Past in Smart Specialisation: A New Model of Selection of Business Stakeholders Within the Entrepreneurial Process of Discovery," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 10(4), pages 1643-1656, December.
    5. Aaron Chatterji & Edward Glaeser & William Kerr, 2014. "Clusters of Entrepreneurship and Innovation," Innovation Policy and the Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 14(1), pages 129-166.
    6. Timothy Komarek & Scott Loveridge, 2015. "Firm Sizes And Economic Development: Estimating Long-Term Effects On U.S. County Growth, 1990–2000," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(2), pages 262-279, March.
    7. Robert W. Helsley & William C. Strange, 2014. "Coagglomeration, Clusters, and the Scale and Composition of Cities," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 122(5), pages 1064-1093.
    8. Ajay Agrawal & Alberto Galasso & Alexander Oettl, 2017. "Roads and Innovation," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 99(3), pages 417-434, July.
    9. Yael V. Hochberg, 2015. "Accelerating Entrepreneurs and Ecosystems: The Seed Accelerator Model," NBER Chapters, in: Innovation Policy and the Economy, Volume 16, pages 25-51, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Edward L. Glaeser & Sari Pekkala Kerr & William R. Kerr, 2015. "Entrepreneurship and Urban Growth: An Empirical Assessment with Historical Mines," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 97(2), pages 498-520, May.
    11. Timothy M. Komarek & Scott Loveridge, 2014. "Too Big? Too Small? Just Right? An Empirical Perspective on Local Firm Size Distribution and Economic Growth in U.S. Counties and High-Poverty Rural Regions," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 28(1), pages 28-41, February.
    12. Monica Coffano & Dominique Foray, 2014. "The Centrality of Entrepreneurial Discovery in Building and Implementing a Smart Specialisation Strategy," SCIENZE REGIONALI, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2014(1), pages 33-50.
    13. Yael V. Hochberg, 2016. "Accelerating Entrepreneurs and Ecosystems: The Seed Accelerator Model," Innovation Policy and the Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 16(1), pages 25-51.
    14. Carlo MENON, 2014. "La propagation des grandes idées? L\'impact de l\'activité de brevet des firmes leader sur les inventeurs locaux," Cahiers du GREThA (2007-2019) 2014-11, Groupe de Recherche en Economie Théorique et Appliquée (GREThA).
    15. Charlotte Senftleben-König & Hanna Wielandt, "undated". "Spatial Wage Inequality and Technological Change," BDPEMS Working Papers 2014008, Berlin School of Economics.
    16. Charlotte Senftleben-Koenig & Hanna Wielandt, 2014. "Spatial Wage Inequality and Technological Change," SFB 649 Discussion Papers SFB649DP2014-038, Sonderforschungsbereich 649, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany.

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    JEL classification:

    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
    • R11 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes

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