IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/sbusec/v49y2017i1d10.1007_s11187-017-9869-3.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The adaptive life cycle of entrepreneurial ecosystems: the biotechnology cluster

Author

Listed:
  • Philip E. Auerswald

    (George Mason University)

  • Lokesh Dani

    (George Mason University)

Abstract

We propose an empirical framework for assessing the vibrancy and trajectory of regional entrepreneurial ecosystems. We apply this framework to study the US National Capital Region’s localized cluster of biotechnology-related entrepreneurship by building our analysis around a set of indicators of ecosystem vitality proposed by Stangler and Bell-Masterson (2015). This application constitutes an initial attempt at mapping the dynamics of an industry cluster within the adaptive life cycle of a wider regional ecosystem. We find that the biotechnology cluster in the National Capital Region entered a “reorientation” stage in the early 2000s, building up stored energy, capital, and connectedness in non-research-oriented activities. An increasing regional presence of large biotech firms in the past 5 years, a highly active and diverse start-up sector, increasing merger and acquisition activity, and declines in regional public funding for medical and clinical trials all suggest a transition of entrepreneurial activity in the region from a dynamic driven by federal research spillovers to one increasingly driven by private sector actors.

Suggested Citation

  • Philip E. Auerswald & Lokesh Dani, 2017. "The adaptive life cycle of entrepreneurial ecosystems: the biotechnology cluster," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 49(1), pages 97-117, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:sbusec:v:49:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1007_s11187-017-9869-3
    DOI: 10.1007/s11187-017-9869-3
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11187-017-9869-3
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11187-017-9869-3?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Weitzman, Martin L, 1970. "Soviet Postwar Economic Growth and Capital-Labor Substitution," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 60(4), pages 676-692, September.
    2. Van De Ven, H., 1993. "The development of an infrastructure for entrepreneurship," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 8(3), pages 211-230, May.
    3. Auerswald, Philip E & Branscomb, Lewis M, 2003. "Valleys of Death and Darwinian Seas: Financing the Invention to Innovation Transition in the United States," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 28(3-4), pages 227-239, August.
    4. Rosenthal, Stuart S. & Strange, William C., 2001. "The Determinants of Agglomeration," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 191-229, September.
    5. Martin L. Weitzman, 1998. "Recombinant Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 113(2), pages 331-360.
    6. Mary Walshok, 2013. "A Systemic Approach to Accelerating Entrepreneurship," Innovations: Technology, Governance, Globalization, MIT Press, vol. 8(3-4), pages 7-17, December.
    7. Genus, Audley & Coles, Anne-Marie, 2008. "Rethinking the multi-level perspective of technological transitions," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(9), pages 1436-1445, October.
    8. Wallsten, Scott J., 2001. "An empirical test of geographic knowledge spillovers using geographic information systems and firm-level data," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(5), pages 571-599, September.
    9. Auerswald, Philip & Kauffman, Stuart & Lobo, Jose & Shell, Karl, 2000. "The production recipes approach to modeling technological innovation: An application to learning by doing," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 24(3), pages 389-450, March.
    10. Auerswald, Philip E., 2017. "The Code Economy: A Forty-Thousand Year History," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780190226763.
    11. Maryann P. Feldman & Johanna L. Francis, 2003. "Fortune Favours the Prepared Region: The Case of Entrepreneurship and the Capitol Region Biotechnology Cluster," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 11(7), pages 765-788, October.
    12. Ron Martin & Peter Sunley, 2011. "Conceptualizing Cluster Evolution: Beyond the Life Cycle Model?," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(10), pages 1299-1318, November.
    13. Audretsch, David B. & Link, Albert N. & Walshok, Mary Lindenstein (ed.), 2015. "The Oxford Handbook of Local Competitiveness," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199993307.
    14. M. L. Weitzman, 1970. "Optimal Growth with Scale Economies in the Creation of Overhead Capital," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 37(4), pages 555-570.
    15. Casper, Steven, 2007. "How do technology clusters emerge and become sustainable?: Social network formation and inter-firm mobility within the San Diego biotechnology cluster," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(4), pages 438-455, May.
    16. Acs, Zoltan J. & Estrin, Saul & Mickiewicz, Tomasz & Szerb, László, 2014. "The Continued Search for the Solow Residual: The Role of National Entrepreneurial Ecosystem," IZA Discussion Papers 8652, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    17. Cooke, Philip, 2002. "Regional Innovation Systems: General Findings and Some New Evidence from Biotechnology Clusters," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 27(1), pages 133-145, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Hezekiah Agwara & Philip Auerswald & Brian Higginbotham, 2013. "Algorithms and the Changing Frontier," NBER Chapters, in: The Changing Frontier: Rethinking Science and Innovation Policy, pages 371-410, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Hezekiah Agwara & Philip Auerswald & Brian Higginbotham, 2014. "Algorithms and the Changing Frontier," NBER Working Papers 20039, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Safarzyńska, Karolina & Frenken, Koen & van den Bergh, Jeroen C.J.M., 2012. "Evolutionary theorizing and modeling of sustainability transitions," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(6), pages 1011-1024.
    4. K. Bruns & N. Bosma & M. Sanders & M. Schramm, 2017. "Searching for the existence of entrepreneurial ecosystems: a regional cross-section growth regression approach," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 49(1), pages 31-54, June.
    5. Matthias Firgo & Peter Mayerhofer, 2015. "Wissensintensive Unternehmensdienste, Wissens-Spillovers und regionales Wachstum. Teilprojekt 1: Wissens-Spillovers und regionale Entwicklung – Welche strukturpolitische Ausrichtung optimiert das Wach," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 58342, April.
    6. Margarida Madaleno & Max Nathan & Henry Overman & Sevrin Waights, 2018. "Incubators, accelerators and regional economic development," CEP Discussion Papers dp1575, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    7. Laurence Cloutier & Karim Messeghem, 2022. "Whirlwind model of entrepreneurial ecosystem path dependence," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 59(2), pages 611-625, August.
    8. Strumsky, Deborah & Lobo, José, 2015. "Identifying the sources of technological novelty in the process of invention," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(8), pages 1445-1461.
    9. Ajay Agrawal & Iain Cockburn & Carlos Rosell, 2010. "Not Invented Here? Innovation in Company Towns," NBER Chapters, in: Cities and Entrepreneurship, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. van Oort, F.G. & Stam, F.C., 2006. "Agglomeration Economies and Entrepreneurship in the ICT Industry," ERIM Report Series Research in Management ERS-2006-016-ORG, Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus University Rotterdam.
    11. Erik Stam & Andrew Ven, 2021. "Entrepreneurial ecosystem elements," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 56(2), pages 809-832, February.
    12. Clancy, Matthew S., 2018. "Inventing by combining pre-existing technologies: Patent evidence on learning and fishing out," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(1), pages 252-265.
    13. Xiwei Zhu & Ye Liu & Ming He & Deming Luo & Yiyun Wu, 2019. "Entrepreneurship and industrial clusters: evidence from China industrial census," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 52(3), pages 595-616, March.
    14. Mary Walshok & Josh Shapiro & Nathan Owens, 2014. "Transnational innovation networks aren’t all created equal: towards a classification system," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 39(3), pages 345-357, June.
    15. Alberto Bettanti & Antonella Lanati & Alessandro Missoni, 2022. "Biopharmaceutical innovation ecosystems: a stakeholder model and the case of Lombardy," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 47(6), pages 1948-1973, December.
    16. Goorha, Prateek, 2015. "Sequencing ideas into innovations through pure thought," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 201-203.
    17. F.C. Stam & Andrew van de Ven, 2018. "Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: A Systems Perspective," Working Papers 18-06, Utrecht School of Economics.
    18. Ross Brown & Colin Mason, 2017. "Looking inside the spiky bits: a critical review and conceptualisation of entrepreneurial ecosystems," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 49(1), pages 11-30, June.
    19. Jose-Luis Hervas-Oliver, 2011. "Social Networks across Spatial Agglomerations: the Paradox of High-Tech Clusters. A Critical Revision of Clusters," ERSA conference papers ersa11p779, European Regional Science Association.
    20. Li Fang, 2020. "Agglomeration and innovation: Selection or true effect?," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 52(2), pages 423-448, March.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Biotech; Clusters; Complexity; Dynamics; Economic geography; Entrepreneurship; Evolutionary economics; Entrepreneurial ecosystems;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B41 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Economic Methodology - - - Economic Methodology
    • B52 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Current Heterodox Approaches - - - Historical; Institutional; Evolutionary; Modern Monetary Theory;
    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship
    • L65 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Manufacturing - - - Chemicals; Rubber; Drugs; Biotechnology; Plastics
    • O3 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights
    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
    • O32 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Management of Technological Innovation and R&D
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
    • R00 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General - - - General
    • R1 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics
    • R11 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes
    • R58 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Regional Government Analysis - - - Regional Development Planning and Policy

    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:kap:sbusec:v:49:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1007_s11187-017-9869-3. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.