IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/asiaps/v7y2020i3p306-321.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The capability‐enhancing role of government‐driven industrial districts for new technology‐based firms in South Korea

Author

Listed:
  • Yuri Jo
  • Won Young Chung
  • Daeho Lee

Abstract

Government‐driven industrial clusters have attracted considerable attention from academic research as well as practical fields, mainly because of their contributions to regional economic growth and sustainable innovation performance. This article investigates the impact of government‐driven industrial districts on the efficiency of new technology‐based firms in information and communications technology industries. Using a meta‐frontier analysis with a unique Korean start‐up dataset, we find that the government's provision of industrial districts increases firm efficiency level compared with that of others outside the districts. Specifically, being located in industrial districts not only improves the efficiency of individual start‐ups but also positively affects the maximum efficiency levels that firms can achieve. Our findings suggest that locational support by public administration, such as utility infrastructure, tax benefits and inter‐firm informal network opportunities, enhances firms' dynamic capability to search for and combine resources to create new markets and innovations, especially for newly established technology firms.

Suggested Citation

  • Yuri Jo & Won Young Chung & Daeho Lee, 2020. "The capability‐enhancing role of government‐driven industrial districts for new technology‐based firms in South Korea," Asia and the Pacific Policy Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 7(3), pages 306-321, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:asiaps:v:7:y:2020:i:3:p:306-321
    DOI: 10.1002/app5.309
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/app5.309
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/app5.309?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Reinganum, Jennifer F, 1983. "Uncertain Innovation and the Persistence of Monopoly," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 73(4), pages 741-748, September.
    2. Gilles Duranton & Diego Puga, 2001. "Nursery Cities: Urban Diversity, Process Innovation, and the Life Cycle of Products," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(5), pages 1454-1477, December.
    3. Catherine Beaudry & Stefano Breschi, 2003. "Are firms in clusters really more innovative?," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(4), pages 325-342.
    4. James D. Adams & Adam B. Jaffe, 1996. "Bounding the Effects of R&D: An Investigation Using Matched Establishment-Firm Data," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 27(4), pages 700-721, Winter.
    5. Michael J. Orlando, 2004. "Measuring Spillovers from Industrial R&D: On the Importance of Geographic and Technological Proximity," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 35(4), pages 777-786, Winter.
    6. Rajah Rasiah, 1996. "Innovation And Institutions," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 3(2), pages 79-102.
    7. Amel Ben Abdesslem & Raphaël Chiappini, 2019. "Cluster policy and firm performance: a case study of the French optic/photonic industry," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(5), pages 692-705, May.
    8. Anne Caroline Posthuma, 2009. "The Industrial District Model: Relevance for Developing Countries in the Context of Globalisation," Chapters, in: Giacomo Becattini & Marco Bellandi & Lisa De Propis (ed.), A Handbook of Industrial Districts, chapter 41, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    9. David J. Teece & Gary Pisano & Amy Shuen, 1997. "Dynamic capabilities and strategic management," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(7), pages 509-533, August.
    10. Tim Coelli & Sanzidur Rahman & Colin Thirtle, 2003. "A stochastic frontier approach to total factor productivity measurement in Bangladesh crop agriculture, 1961-92," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 15(3), pages 321-333.
    11. Frank M.H. Neffke & Martin Henning & Ron Boschma, 2012. "The impact of aging and technological relatedness on agglomeration externalities: a survival analysis," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 12(2), pages 485-517, March.
    12. George Battese & D. Rao & Christopher O'Donnell, 2004. "A Metafrontier Production Function for Estimation of Technical Efficiencies and Technology Gaps for Firms Operating Under Different Technologies," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 21(1), pages 91-103, January.
    13. Lee, Kyoungsun & Park, Yuri & Lee, Daeho, 2018. "Measuring efficiency and ICT ecosystem impact: Hardware vs. software industry," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(2), pages 107-115.
    14. Adam B. Jaffe & Manuel Trajtenberg & Rebecca Henderson, 1993. "Geographic Localization of Knowledge Spillovers as Evidenced by Patent Citations," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 108(3), pages 577-598.
    15. Fernando F. Suárez & James M. Utterback, 1995. "Dominant designs and the survival of firms," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(6), pages 415-430.
    16. Giacomo Becattini & Marco Bellandi & Lisa De Propis (ed.), 2009. "A Handbook of Industrial Districts," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 12736.
    17. Michael Fritsch (ed.), 2011. "Handbook of Research on Entrepreneurship and Regional Development," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 13399.
    18. George E. Battese & D. S. Prasada Rao, 2002. "Technology Gap, Efficiency, and a Stochastic Metafrontier Function," International Journal of Business and Economics, School of Management Development, Feng Chia University, Taichung, Taiwan, vol. 1(2), pages 87-93, August.
    19. John Cantwell & Grazia D. Santangelo, 2002. "special issue: The new geography of corporate research in Information and Communications Technology (ICT)," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 163-197.
    20. Henderson, J. Vernon, 2003. "Marshall's scale economies," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(1), pages 1-28, January.
    21. Kyoungsun Lee & Yuri Park & Daeho Lee, 2016. "Effect of the ICT Ecosystem Structure on the Sustainable Growth of ICT Firms: A Metafrontier Analysis on China, South Korea, the United States, and Japan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(5), pages 1-9, May.
    22. Jeffrey Furman & Margaret K. Kyle & Alain Cockburn & Rebecca M. Henderson, 2005. "Public & Private Spillovers: Location and the Productivity of Pharmaceutical Research," Annals of Economics and Statistics, GENES, issue 79-80, pages 165-188.
    23. Lee, Daeho & Hwang, Junseok, 2011. "Network neutrality and difference in efficiency among Internet application service providers: A meta-frontier analysis," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(8), pages 764-772, September.
    24. Audretsch, David B & Feldman, Maryann P, 1996. "R&D Spillovers and the Geography of Innovation and Production," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(3), pages 630-640, June.
    25. Stefano Breschi & Francesco Lissoni, 2009. "Mobility of skilled workers and co-invention networks: an anatomy of localized knowledge flows," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 9(4), pages 439-468, July.
    26. Simonen, Jaakko & McCann, Philip, 2008. "Firm innovation: The influence of R&D cooperation and the geography of human capital inputs," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(1), pages 146-154, July.
    27. M. J. Piore & C. F. Sabel, 1981. "Italian Small Business Development Lessons for U. S. Industrial Policy," Working papers 288, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Department of Economics.
    28. Baptista, Rui & Swann, Peter, 1998. "Do firms in clusters innovate more?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 27(5), pages 525-540, September.
    29. Deepak Chandrashekar & M. H. Bala Subrahmanya, 2019. "Exploring the factors of cluster linkages that influence innovation performance of firms in a cluster," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(1), pages 1-22, January.
    30. Rajshree Agarwal & David B. Audretsch, 2001. "Does Entry Size Matter? The Impact of the Life Cycle and Technology on Firm Survival," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(1), pages 21-43, March.
    31. Yang, Anhyuk & Lee, Daeho & Hwang, Junseok & Shin, Jungwoo, 2013. "The influence of regulations on the efficiency of telecommunications operators: A meta-frontier analysis," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(11), pages 1071-1082.
    32. Yuri Jo & Chang-Yang Lee, 2014. "Technological Capability, Agglomeration Economies and Firm Location Choice," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(8), pages 1337-1352, August.
    33. Mikel Landabaso & Stuart Rosenfeld, 2009. "Public Policies for Industrial Districts and Clusters," Chapters, in: Giacomo Becattini & Marco Bellandi & Lisa De Propis (ed.), A Handbook of Industrial Districts, chapter 52, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    34. Cohen, Jeffrey P. & Paul, Catherine J. Morrison, 2005. "Agglomeration economies and industry location decisions: the impacts of spatial and industrial spillovers," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 215-237, May.
    35. David B. Audretsch & Erik E. Lehmann & Matthias Menter & Nikolaus Seitz, 2019. "Public cluster policy and firm performance: evaluating spillover effects across industries," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(1-2), pages 150-165, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Yoonje Euh & Daeho Lee, 2021. "How Do Pharmaceutical Companies Overcome a Corporate Productivity Crisis? Business Diversification into Medical Devices for Growth Potential," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(3), pages 1-10, January.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yuri Jo & Chang-Yang Lee, 2014. "Technological Capability, Agglomeration Economies and Firm Location Choice," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(8), pages 1337-1352, August.
    2. Frank Oort & Niels Bosma, 2013. "Agglomeration economies, inventors and entrepreneurs as engines of European regional economic development," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 51(1), pages 213-244, August.
    3. Carlino, Gerald & Kerr, William R., 2015. "Agglomeration and Innovation," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 349-404, Elsevier.
    4. Lee, Kyoungsun & Park, Yuri & Lee, Daeho, 2018. "Measuring efficiency and ICT ecosystem impact: Hardware vs. software industry," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(2), pages 107-115.
    5. Dirk Czarnitzki & Hanna Hottenrott, 2009. "Are Local Milieus The Key To Innovation Performance?," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(1), pages 81-112, February.
    6. Beaudry, Catherine & Schiffauerova, Andrea, 2009. "Who's right, Marshall or Jacobs? The localization versus urbanization debate," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 318-337, March.
    7. Juan Alcácer & Mercedes Delgado, 2016. "Spatial Organization of Firms and Location Choices Through the Value Chain," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 62(11), pages 3213-3234, November.
    8. Moretti, Enrico, 2011. "Local Labor Markets," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 14, pages 1237-1313, Elsevier.
    9. Brian T. McCann & Jeffrey J. Reuer & Nandini Lahiri, 2016. "Agglomeration and the choice between acquisitions and alliances: An information economics perspective," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(6), pages 1085-1106, June.
    10. Broekel, Tom & Fornahl, Dirk & Morrison, Andrea, 2015. "Another cluster premium: Innovation subsidies and R&D collaboration networks," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(8), pages 1431-1444.
    11. Annekatrin Niebuhr & Jan Cornelius Peters & Alex Schmidke, 2020. "Spatial sorting of innovative firms and heterogeneous effects of agglomeration on innovation in Germany," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 45(5), pages 1343-1375, October.
    12. repec:bof:bofrdp:urn:nbn:fi:bof-201512111472 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Lee, Chang-Yang, 2009. "Do firms in clusters invest in R&D more intensively? Theory and evidence from multi-country data," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(7), pages 1159-1171, September.
    14. Susanne Hinzmann & Uwe Cantner & Holger Graf, 2019. "The role of geographical proximity for project performance: evidence from the German Leading-Edge Cluster Competition," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 44(6), pages 1744-1783, December.
    15. repec:zbw:bofrdp:urn:nbn:fi:bof-201512111472 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Ana Paula Faria & Natália Barbosa & Vasco Eiriz, 2013. "Firms’ innovation across regions: an exploratory study," NIPE Working Papers 12/2013, NIPE - Universidade do Minho.
    17. Ana Paula Faria & Natália Barbosa & Vasco Eiriz, 2015. "Firm Innovation and Co-Location in Portugal," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(4), pages 574-592, December.
    18. Carlino, Gerald & Kerr, William R., 2015. "Agglomeration and Innovation," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 349-404, Elsevier.
    19. Niels Bosma & Frank van Oort, 2012. "Agglomeration Economies, Inventors and Entrepreneurs as Engines of European Regional Productivity," Working Papers 12-20, Utrecht School of Economics.
    20. Belderbos, René & Mohnen, Pierre, 2020. "Inter-sectoral and international R&D spillovers," MERIT Working Papers 2020-047, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    21. repec:zbw:bofrdp:2015_027 is not listed on IDEAS
    22. Anna M. Ferragina & Giulia Nunziante, 2018. "Are Italian firms performances influenced by innovation of domestic and foreign firms nearby in space and sectors?," Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, Springer;Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 45(3), pages 335-360, September.
    23. 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.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:asiaps:v:7:y:2020:i:3:p:306-321. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=2050-2680 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.