IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/ecgeog/v84y2008i2p157-183.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Effects of Spatial Mobility on the Performance of Firms

Author

Listed:
  • Joris Knoben
  • L. A. G. (Leon) Oerlemans
  • R. P. J. H. (Roel) Rutten

Abstract

A considerable body of research has analyzed the impact of a firm’s geographic position and levels of organizational and territorial embeddedness on its performance. Generally these studies have assumed that firms are immobile. Research that has focused on the effects of the relocation of firms has treated firms mainly as atomistic actors that can move freely in geographic space and has tended to neglect the influence of changes in a firm’s geographic position and level of organizational and territorial embeddedness. We integrated insights from both streams of literature to answer the research question, “What are the effects of relocation on a firm’s performance, and what is the influence of a firm’s geographic position and its level of organizational and territorial embeddedness on this relationship?” On the basis of our analysis of data from a survey of managers of Dutch automation services firms, we found that the degree of impact of a firm’s relocation on its performance depends on the characteristics of the relocation. For example, a move to an urbanized region hampers performance, whereas a move to a research and development-intensive region fosters a higher level of performance. Furthermore, firms with high levels of organizational embeddedness suffer in the short term from relocation, but benefit in the long run.
(This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)

Suggested Citation

  • Joris Knoben & L. A. G. (Leon) Oerlemans & R. P. J. H. (Roel) Rutten, 2008. "The Effects of Spatial Mobility on the Performance of Firms," Economic Geography, Clark University, vol. 84(2), pages 157-183, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ecgeog:v:84:y:2008:i:2:p:157-183
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/j.1944-8287.2008.tb00402.x
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    ---><---

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

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. 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.
    2. Wuyts, Stefan & Colombo, Massimo G. & Dutta, Shantanu & Nooteboom, Bart, 2005. "Empirical tests of optimal cognitive distance," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 58(2), pages 277-302, October.
    3. Peter Maskell, 2001. "The Firm in Economic Geography," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 77(4), pages 329-344, October.
    4. Meric S. Gertler, 2003. "Tacit knowledge and the economic geography of context, or The undefinable tacitness of being (there)," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 3(1), pages 75-99, January.
    5. Maryann Feldman, 1999. "The New Economics Of Innovation, Spillovers And Agglomeration: Areview Of Empirical Studies," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(1-2), pages 5-25.
    6. Erik Stam, 2007. "Why Butterflies Don’t Leave: Locational Behavior of Entrepreneurial Firms," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 83(1), pages 27-50, January.
    7. Jouke van Dijk & Piet H. Pellenbarg, 2000. "Firm relocation decisions in The Netherlands: An ordered logit approach," Papers in Regional Science, Springer;Regional Science Association International, vol. 79(2), pages 191-219.
    8. Sjoerd Beugelsdijk, 2007. "The Regional Environment and a Firm’s Innovative Performance: A Plea for a Multilevel Interactionist Approach," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 83(2), pages 181-199, April.
    9. Nooteboom, B. & Gilsing, V.A., 2004. "Density and strength of ties in innovation networks: a competence and governance view," Working Papers 04.01, Eindhoven Center for Innovation Studies.
    10. Leon Oerlemans & Marius Meeus, 2005. "Do Organizational and Spatial Proximity Impact on Firm Performance?," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(1), pages 89-104.
    11. Ron A. Boschma & Anet B.R. Weterings, 2005. "The effect of regional differences on the performance of software firms in the Netherlands," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 5(5), pages 567-588, October.
    12. Gilsing, V. & Nooteboom, B., 2004. "Density and strength of ties in innovation networks: an analysis of multimedia and biotechnology," Working Papers 04.16, Eindhoven Center for Innovation Studies.
    13. Love, James H. & Roper, Stephen, 2001. "Location and network effects on innovation success: evidence for UK, German and Irish manufacturing plants," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(4), pages 643-661, April.
    14. Brian Arthur, W. & Ermoliev, Yu. M. & Kaniovski, Yu. M., 1987. "Path-dependent processes and the emergence of macro-structure," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 294-303, June.
    15. Ron Boschma, 2005. "Proximity and Innovation: A Critical Assessment," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(1), pages 61-74.
    16. Juan Alcácer, 2006. "Location Choices Across the Value Chain: How Activity and Capability Influence Collocation," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 52(10), pages 1457-1471, October.
    17. Ash Amin & Patrick Cohendet, 2005. "Geographies of Knowledge Formation in Firms," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(4), pages 465-486.
    18. Jungyul Sohn, 2004. "Do birds of a feather flock together?: Economic linkage and geographic proximity," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 38(1), pages 47-73, March.
    19. Jason Owen-Smith & Walter W. Powell, 2004. "Knowledge Networks as Channels and Conduits: The Effects of Spillovers in the Boston Biotechnology Community," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 15(1), pages 5-21, February.
    20. Stefano Breschi & Francesco Lissoni, 2001. "articles: Localised knowledge spillovers vs. innovative milieux: Knowledge "tacitness" reconsidered," Papers in Regional Science, Springer;Regional Science Association International, vol. 80(3), pages 255-273.
    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. Ejaz Ghani & Arti Grover Goswami & William R. Kerr, 2012. "Is India’s Manufacturing Sector Moving Away From Cities?," Harvard Business School Working Papers 12-090, Harvard Business School.
    2. Claver-Cortés, Enrique & Marco-Lajara, Bartolome & Manresa-Marhuenda, Encarnación & García-Lillo, F. & Seva-Larrosa, Pedro, 2017. "Location Decisions and Agglomeration Economies: Domestic and Foreign Companies," INVESTIGACIONES REGIONALES - Journal of REGIONAL RESEARCH, Asociación Española de Ciencia Regional, issue 39, pages 99-135.
    3. Alberto Marzucchi & Davide Antonioli & Sandro Montresor, 2012. "Research cooperation within and across regional boundaries. Does innovation policy add anything?," JRC Working Papers on Corporate R&D and Innovation 2012-04, Joint Research Centre.
    4. Sofie De Prijcker & Sophie Manigart & Veroniek Collewaert & Tom Vanacker, 2019. "Relocation to Get Venture Capital: A Resource Dependence Perspective," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 43(4), pages 697-724, July.
    5. Weterings, Anet & Boschma, Ron, 2009. "Does spatial proximity to customers matter for innovative performance?: Evidence from the Dutch software sector," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(5), pages 746-755, June.
    6. Wenying Fu & Javier Revilla Diez & Daniel Schiller, 2017. "Determinants of Networking Practices in the Chinese Transition Context: Empirical Insights from the Pearl River Delta," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 108(2), pages 205-219, April.
    7. Fernando Merino, 2017. "Offshoring, outsourcing and the economic geography of Europe," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 96(2), pages 299-323, June.
    8. Antonin Bergeaud & Simon Ray, 2021. "Adjustment Costs and Factor Demand: New Evidence from Firms’ Real Estate [The heterogeneous impact of market size on innovation: evidence from French firm-level exports]," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 131(633), pages 70-100.
    9. In Hyeock (Ian) Lee, 2022. "Startups, relocation, and firm performance: a transaction cost economics perspective," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 58(1), pages 205-224, January.
    10. Atakhan-Kenneweg, Melda & Oerlemans, Leon A.G. & Raab, Jörg, 2021. "New inter-organizational knowledge tie formation after firm relocation: Investigating the impact of spatial, relational, and temporal context," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 264-276.
    11. Wei, Wei & Zhang, Wan-Li & Wen, Jun & Wang, Jun-Sheng, 2020. "TFP growth in Chinese cities: The role of factor-intensity and industrial agglomeration," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 534-549.

    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. J. Knoben, 2009. "Localized inter-organizational linkages, agglomeration effects, and the innovative performance of firms," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 43(3), pages 757-779, September.
    2. Michael Fritsch & Moritz Zoellner, 2020. "The fluidity of inventor networks," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 45(4), pages 1063-1087, August.
    3. Kolympiris, Christos & Kalaitzandonakes, Nicholas & Miller, Douglas, 2011. "Spatial collocation and venture capital in the US biotechnology industry," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(9), pages 1188-1199.
    4. Lisa Östbring & Rikard Eriksson & Urban Lindgren, 2015. "Relatedness through experience: On the importance of collected worker experiences for plant performance," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 1530, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Sep 2015.
    5. Hugo Ernesto Martínez Ardila & Julián Eduardo Mora Moreno & Jaime Alberto Camacho Pico, 2020. "Networks of collaborative alliances: the second order interfirm technological distance and innovation performance," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 45(4), pages 1255-1282, August.
    6. Joris Knoben, 2006. "A Relational Account of the Causes of Spatial Firm Mobility," ERSA conference papers ersa06p1, European Regional Science Association.
    7. Grillitsch, Markus & Nilsson , Magnus, 2013. "Technological competencies and firm performance: Analyzing the importance of internal and external competencies," Papers in Innovation Studies 2013/24, Lund University, CIRCLE - Centre for Innovation Research.
    8. Gilsing, Victor & Nooteboom, Bart & Vanhaverbeke, Wim & Duysters, Geert & van den Oord, Ad, 2008. "Network embeddedness and the exploration of novel technologies: Technological distance, betweenness centrality and density," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(10), pages 1717-1731, December.
    9. Markus Grillitsch & Magnus Nilsson, 2015. "Innovation in peripheral regions: Do collaborations compensate for a lack of local knowledge spillovers?," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 54(1), pages 299-321, January.
    10. Feldman, Maryann P. & Kogler, Dieter F., 2010. "Stylized Facts in the Geography of Innovation," Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, in: Bronwyn H. Hall & Nathan Rosenberg (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 0, pages 381-410, Elsevier.
    11. Ron Boschma & Koen Frenken, 2011. "The emerging empirics of evolutionary economic geography," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 11(2), pages 295-307, March.
    12. Der-Shiuan Lee & Breandán Ó Huallacháin, 2012. "Spatial Network-based and Regional Proximity in US Biotechnology," Chapters, in: Marina van Geenhuizen & Peter Nijkamp (ed.), Creative Knowledge Cities, chapter 12, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    13. Geert Vissers & Ben Dankbaar, 2016. "Spatial Aspects of Interfirm Collaboration: An Exploration of Firm-Level Knowledge Dynamics," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(2), pages 260-273, February.
    14. Anders Malmberg & Peter Maskell, 2006. "Localized Learning Revisited," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(1), pages 1-18, March.
    15. Cristiano Antonelli & Pier Paolo Patrucco & Francesco Quatraro, 2011. "Productivity Growth and Pecuniary Knowledge Externalities: An Empirical Analysis of Agglomeration Economies in European Regions," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 87(1), pages 23-50, January.
    16. Vestal, Alex & Danneels, Erwin, 2018. "Knowledge exchange in clusters: The contingent role of regional inventive concentration," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(10), pages 1887-1903.
    17. Edward J. Malecki, 2010. "Everywhere? The Geography Of Knowledge," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(1), pages 493-513, February.
    18. van der Wouden, Frank & Youn, Hyejin, 2023. "The impact of geographical distance on learning through collaboration," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(2).
    19. Alessia Lo Turco & Daniela Maggioni, 2016. "On firms’ product space evolution: the role of firm and local product relatedness," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 16(5), pages 975-1006.
    20. Lorenzo Cassi & Anne Plunket, 2014. "Proximity, network formation and inventive performance: in search of the proximity paradox," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 53(2), pages 395-422, September.

    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:ecgeog:v:84:y:2008:i:2:p:157-183. 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: https://edirc.repec.org/data/declaus.html .

    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.