IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/envira/v38y2006i7p1269-1285.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

From Software Services to R&D Services: Local Entrepreneurship in the Software Industry in Bangalore, India

Author

Listed:
  • Balaji Parthasarathy

    (International Institute of Information Technology, 26/C Electronics City, Bangalore-560100, India)

  • Yuko Aoyama

    (Graduate School of Geography, Clark University, 950 Main Street, Worcester, MA 01610-1477, USA)

Abstract

In this paper we analyze the emergence of R&D services in Bangalore, India, by focusing on the process of technological upgrading in the Indian software industry. The development trajectory of the Indian software industry and the upgrading it has experienced, from providing low-skill software services to providing high-skill R&D services, are examined using evidence from interviews with Indian firms in Bangalore. Whereas most research on the Indian software industry thus far has emphasized the role of the state and multinational corporations, in this paper we argue that active local entrepreneurship is playing an increasingly important role in technological upgrading and in the shift from low-skill to high-skill services in Bangalore. These shifts are being facilitated by growing institutional thickness, as evidenced by the accumulation of local expertise, increasing local entrepreneurship addressing specific market niches, and the development of a local technical community.

Suggested Citation

  • Balaji Parthasarathy & Yuko Aoyama, 2006. "From Software Services to R&D Services: Local Entrepreneurship in the Software Industry in Bangalore, India," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 38(7), pages 1269-1285, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:38:y:2006:i:7:p:1269-1285
    DOI: 10.1068/a38102
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1068/a38102
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1068/a38102?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. Lee, Keun & Lim, Chaisung, 2001. "Technological regimes, catching-up and leapfrogging: findings from the Korean industries," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 459-483, March.
    2. Giovannetti, Emanuele, 2001. "Perpetual Leapfrogging in Bertrand Duopoly," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 42(3), pages 671-696, August.
    3. Saxenian, AnnaLee & Hsu, Jinn-Yuh, 2001. "The Silicon Valley-Hsinchu Connection: Technical Communities and Industrial Upgrading," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 10(4), pages 893-920, December.
    4. Byun, Hyung-Yoon & Wang, Yunjong, 1995. "Technology transfer and multinational corporations: The case of South Korea," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 6(2), pages 201-216.
    5. Alice H. Amsden & Wan-wen Chu, 2003. "Beyond Late Development: Taiwan's Upgrading Policies," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262011980, December.
    6. Arora, Ashish & Arunachalam, V. S. & Asundi, Jai & Fernandes, Ronald, 2001. "The Indian software services industry," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(8), pages 1267-1287, October.
    7. Correa, Carlos M., 1996. "Strategies for software exports from developing countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 171-182, January.
    8. John Humphrey & Hubert Schmitz, 2002. "How does insertion in global value chains affect upgrading in industrial clusters?," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(9), pages 1017-1027.
    9. Pao-Long Chang & Chien-Tzu Tsai, 2000. "Evolution Of Technology Development Strategies For Taiwan'S Semiconductor Industry: Formation Of Research Consortia," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 7(2), pages 185-197.
    10. Jennifer Bair, 2002. "Beyond the Maquila Model? Nafta and the Mexican Apparel Industry," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(3), pages 203-225.
    11. W. Edward STEINMUELLER, 2001. "ICTs and the possibilities for leapfrogging by developing countries," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 140(2), pages 193-210, June.
    12. NS Siddharthan & Stanley Nollen, 2004. "MNE Affiliation, Firm Size and Exports Revisited: A Study of Information Technology Firms in India," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(6), pages 146-168.
    13. Gereffi, Gary, 1999. "International trade and industrial upgrading in the apparel commodity chain," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 37-70, June.
    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. Jue Wang & Shaoming Cheng & Sukumar Ganapati, 2012. "Path dependence in regional ICT innovation: Differential evolution of Zhongguancun and Bangalore," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 4(3), pages 231-245, August.
    2. Guimón, José & Chaminade, Cristina & Maggi, Claudio & Salazar-Elena, Juan Carlos, 2018. "Policies to Attract R&D-related FDI in Small Emerging Countries: Aligning Incentives With Local Linkages and Absorptive Capacities in Chile," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 24(2), pages 165-178.

    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. Keun Lee & Marina Szapiro & Zhuqing Mao, 2018. "From Global Value Chains (GVC) to Innovation Systems for Local Value Chains and Knowledge Creation," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 30(3), pages 424-441, July.
    2. Keun Lee & Di Qu & Zhuqing Mao, 2021. "Global Value Chains, Industrial Policy, and Industrial Upgrading: Automotive Sectors in Malaysia, Thailand, and China in Comparison with Korea," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 33(2), pages 275-303, April.
    3. Pietrobelli, Carlo & Rabellotti, Roberta, 2011. "Global Value Chains Meet Innovation Systems: Are There Learning Opportunities for Developing Countries?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(7), pages 1261-1269, July.
    4. Lee, Keun, 2005. "Making a Technological Catch-up: Barriers and Opportunities," MPRA Paper 109776, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Padmashree Gehl Sampath & Bertha Vallejo, 2018. "Trade, Global Value Chains and Upgrading: What, When and How?," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 30(3), pages 481-504, July.
    6. Lema, Rasmus, 2010. "Adoption of Open Business Models in the West and Innovation in India's Software Industry," MPRA Paper 49589, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Liu, John Jen-wei & Ray, Pradeep Kanta, 2012. "The ‘Triple-alliance’ perspective for new industry creation: Lessons from the flat panel industry in Taiwan," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(5), pages 585-599.
    8. Prud’homme, Dan, 2016. "Dynamics of China’s provincial-level specialization in strategic emerging industries," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(8), pages 1586-1603.
    9. Kenney, Martin & Breznitz, Dan & Murphree, Michael, 2013. "Coming back home after the sun rises: Returnee entrepreneurs and growth of high tech industries," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(2), pages 391-407.
    10. Leonhard Plank & Cornelia Staritz, 2013. "‘Precarious upgrading’ in electronics global production networks in Central and Eastern Europe: the cases of Hungary and Romania," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series ctg-2013-31, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    11. Pietrobelli, Carlo & Rabellotti, Roberta, 2011. "Global Value Chains Meet Innovation Systems: Are There Learning Opportunities for Developing Countries?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(7), pages 1261-1269, July.
    12. Jenn hwan Wang & Tsung-Yuan Chen & Ching-Jung Tsai, 2012. "In Search of an Innovative State: The Development of the Biopharmaceutical Industry in Taiwan, South Korea and China," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 43(2), pages 481-503, March.
    13. Binnur Neidik & Gary Gereffi, 2006. "Explaining Turkey's Emergence and Sustained Competitiveness as a Full-Package Supplier of Apparel," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 38(12), pages 2285-2303, December.
    14. Scott, Allen J., 2006. "The Changing Global Geography of Low-Technology, Labor-Intensive Industry: Clothing, Footwear, and Furniture," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 34(9), pages 1517-1536, September.
    15. Henry Wai-chung Yeung, 2015. "Regional development in the global economy: A dynamic perspective of strategic coupling in global production networks," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 7(1), pages 1-23, March.
    16. Sungchul Cho & Up Lim, 2016. "The Sustainability of Global Chain Governance: Network Structures and Local Supplier Upgrading in Thailand," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(9), pages 1-13, September.
    17. Brandt, Loren & Thun, Eric, 2010. "The Fight for the Middle: Upgrading, Competition, and Industrial Development in China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(11), pages 1555-1574, November.
    18. Manning, Stephan, 2013. "New Silicon Valleys or a new species? Commoditization of knowledge work and the rise of knowledge services clusters," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(2), pages 379-390.
    19. Epede, Mesumbe Bianca & Wang, Daoping, 2022. "Global value chain linkages: An integrative review of the opportunities and challenges for SMEs in developing countries," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(5).
    20. Jan Fagerberg & Bengt-Åke Lundvall & Martin Srholec, 2018. "Global Value Chains, National Innovation Systems and Economic Development," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 30(3), pages 533-556, July.

    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:sae:envira:v:38:y:2006:i:7:p:1269-1285. 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: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    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.