IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/respol/v49y2020i8s0048733320301232.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Anchor entrepreneurship and industry catalysis: The rise of the Italian Biomedical Valley

Author

Listed:
  • Ferriani, Simone
  • Lazerson, Mark H.
  • Lorenzoni, Gianni

Abstract

Accounting for the rise of the medical device industry in the Emilia-Romagna town of Mirandola from a once depressed agricultural area in 1962 to a world-manufacturing center for dialysis equipment and disposable plastic medical devices, requires in large measure mapping the methods of the local entrepreneur who spearheaded its development. Reworking Agrawal and Cockburn's anchor-tenant hypothesis highlighting the role of large organizations in fostering agglomerations, this paper privileges the Schumpeterian entrepreneur as the dynamic force driving new industrial formations. This anchor-entrepreneur with no prior experience in manufacturing medical devices and without any public financing or large private backers founded six firms. Each of these would be sold off fairly quickly to a different large multinational corporation. Placing the anchor-entrepreneur at the center stage advances understanding of early industry evolution, spelling out how first-mover pioneers shape the environment to establish the first markets needed to attract new resources and capabilities. Underpinning our argument are 61 fine-grain interviews with key medical device industry informants in addition to extensive secondary sources and historical records. We draw on this material to induce a stylized model of anchor-entrepreneurship and industry catalysis that rests on three generative processes: bricolage, second-hand imprinting and beaconing.

Suggested Citation

  • Ferriani, Simone & Lazerson, Mark H. & Lorenzoni, Gianni, 2020. "Anchor entrepreneurship and industry catalysis: The rise of the Italian Biomedical Valley," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(8).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:respol:v:49:y:2020:i:8:s0048733320301232
    DOI: 10.1016/j.respol.2020.104045
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048733320301232
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.respol.2020.104045?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. Katrin M. Smolka & Pursey P. M. A. R. Heugens, 2020. "The Emergence of Proto‐Institutions in the New Normal Business Landscape: Dialectic Institutional Work and the Dutch Drone Industry," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(3), pages 626-663, May.
    2. Gino Cattani & Simone Ferriani & Andrea Lanza, 2017. "Deconstructing the Outsider Puzzle: The Legitimation Journey of Novelty," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 28(6), pages 965-992, December.
    3. Klepper, Steven, 2010. "The origin and growth of industry clusters: The making of Silicon Valley and Detroit," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(1), pages 15-32, January.
    4. Elisa Giuliani, 2011. "Role of Technological Gatekeepers in the Growth of Industrial Clusters: Evidence from Chile," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(10), pages 1329-1348, November.
    5. Eric von Hippel, 1986. "Lead Users: A Source of Novel Product Concepts," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 32(7), pages 791-805, July.
    6. Stern, Ariel Dora, 2017. "Innovation under regulatory uncertainty: Evidence from medical technology," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 181-200.
    7. Mahka Moeen & Rajshree Agarwal, 2017. "Incubation of an industry: Heterogeneous knowledge bases and modes of value capture," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(3), pages 566-587, March.
    8. Jaskiewicz, Peter & Combs, James G. & Rau, Sabine B., 2015. "Entrepreneurial legacy: Toward a theory of how some family firms nurture transgenerational entrepreneurship," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 29-49.
    9. Romel Mostafa & Steven Klepper, 2018. "Industrial Development Through Tacit Knowledge Seeding: Evidence from the Bangladesh Garment Industry," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(2), pages 613-632, February.
    10. Guido Buenstorf & Steven Klepper, 2009. "Heritage and Agglomeration: The Akron Tyre Cluster Revisited," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 119(537), pages 705-733, April.
    11. Maryann P. Feldman & Johanna L. Francis, 2004. "Homegrown Solutions: Fostering Cluster Formation," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 18(2), pages 127-137, May.
    12. Philip Cooke, 2007. "Regional innovation, entrepreneurship and talent systems," International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 7(2/3/4/5), pages 117-139.
    13. Todd H. Chiles & Alan D. Meyer & Thomas J. Hench, 2004. "Organizational Emergence: The Origin and Transformation of Branson, Missouri's Musical Theaters," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 15(5), pages 499-519, October.
    14. Rotolo, Daniele & Hicks, Diana & Martin, Ben R., 2015. "What is an emerging technology?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(10), pages 1827-1843.
    15. Victoria Johnson & Walter W. Powell, 2017. "Organizational Poisedness and the Transformation of Civic Order in Nineteenth-Century New York City," NBER Chapters, in: Organizations, Civil Society, and the Roots of Development, pages 179-230, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. Gil Avnimelech & Maryann Feldman, 2010. "Regional Corporate Spawning and the Role of Homegrown Companies," Review of Policy Research, Policy Studies Organization, vol. 27(4), pages 475-489, July.
    17. Kaplan, Sarah & Tripsas, Mary, 2008. "Thinking about technology: Applying a cognitive lens to technical change," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(5), pages 790-805, June.
    18. Lazerson, Mark H & Lorenzoni, Gianni, 1999. "The Firms That Feed Industrial Districts: A Return to the Italian," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 8(2), pages 235-266, June.
    19. Ohid Yaqub, 2018. "Variation in the dynamics and performance of industrial innovation: what can we learn from vaccines and HIV vaccines?," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 27(1), pages 173-187.
    20. Baker, Ted, 2007. "Resources in play: Bricolage in the Toy Store(y)," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 22(5), pages 694-711, September.
    21. Steven Klepper, 2007. "Disagreements, Spinoffs, and the Evolution of Detroit as the Capital of the U.S. Automobile Industry," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 53(4), pages 616-631, April.
    22. Desirée F. Pacheco & Jeffrey G. York & Timothy J. Hargrave, 2014. "The Coevolution of Industries, Social Movements, and Institutions: Wind Power in the United States," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(6), pages 1609-1632, December.
    23. Guido Buenstorf & Dirk Fornahl, 2009. "B2C—bubble to cluster: the dot-com boom, spin-off entrepreneurship, and regional agglomeration," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 19(3), pages 349-378, June.
    24. Y. Sekou Bermiss & Benjamin L. Hallen & Rory McDonald & Emily C. Pahnke, 2017. "Entrepreneurial beacons: The Yale endowment, run‐ups, and the growth of venture capital," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(3), pages 545-565, March.
    25. Robert J. David & Wesley D. Sine & Heather A. Haveman, 2013. "Seizing Opportunity in Emerging Fields: How Institutional Entrepreneurs Legitimated the Professional Form of Management Consulting," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 24(2), pages 356-377, April.
    26. Davide Consoli & Andrea Mina, 2009. "An evolutionary perspective on health innovation systems," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 19(2), pages 297-319, April.
    27. Torsten M. Pieper & Anne D. Smith & Jerry Kudlats & Joseph H. Astrachan, 2015. "The Persistence of Multifamily Firms: Founder Imprinting, Simple Rules, and Monitoring Processes," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 39(6), pages 1313-1337, November.
    28. David, Paul A, 1985. "Clio and the Economics of QWERTY," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 75(2), pages 332-337, May.
    29. Andrew H. Van de Ven & Marshall Scott Poole, 1990. "Methods for Studying Innovation Development in the Minnesota Innovation Research Program," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 1(3), pages 313-335, August.
    30. Forbes, Daniel P. & Kirsch, David A., 2011. "The study of emerging industries: Recognizing and responding to some central problems," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 26(5), pages 589-602, September.
    31. Ohid Yaqub, 2018. "Variation in the dynamics and performance of industrial innovation: What can we learn from vaccines and HIV vaccines?," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 27(3), pages 619-619.
    32. Paul Gompers & Josh Lerner & David Scharfstein, 2005. "Entrepreneurial Spawning: Public Corporations and the Genesis of New Ventures, 1986 to 1999," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(2), pages 577-614, April.
    33. Yaqub, Ohid, 2017. "Testing regimes in clinical trials: Evidence from four polio vaccine trajectories," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(2), pages 475-484.
    34. Manimala, Mathew J., 1992. "Entrepreneurial heuristics: A comparison between high PL (pioneering-innovative) and low PI ventures," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 7(6), pages 477-504, November.
    35. Garnsey, Elizabeth & Lorenzoni, Gianni & Ferriani, Simone, 2008. "Speciation through entrepreneurial spin-off: The Acorn-ARM story," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 210-224, March.
    36. Mark J. Eppli & James D. Shilling, 1995. "Large-Scale Shopping Center Development Opportunities," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 71(1), pages 35-41.
    37. Alvarez, Sharon A. & Young, Susan L. & Woolley, Jennifer L., 2015. "Opportunities and institutions: A co-creation story of the king crab industry," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 95-112.
    38. John R. Kimberly & Hamid Bouchikhi, 1995. "The Dynamics of Organizational Development and Change: How the Past Shapes the Present and Constrains the Future," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 6(1), pages 9-18, February.
    39. Simone Ferriani & Elizabeth Garnsey & Gianni Lorenzoni, 2012. "Continuity and change in a spin-off venture: the process of reimprinting," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 21(4), pages 1011-1048, August.
    40. Biggiero, Lucio, 2002. "The Location of Multinationals in Industrial Districts: Knowledge Transfer in Biomedicals," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 27(1), pages 111-122, January.
    41. Elizabeth Garnsey & Paul Heffernan, 2005. "High-technology clustering through spin-out and attraction: The Cambridge case," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(8), pages 1127-1144.
    42. Maryann P. Feldman & Serden Ozcan & Toke Reichstein, 2019. "Falling Not Far from the Tree: Entrepreneurs and Organizational Heritage," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 30(2), pages 337-360, March.
    43. Gort, Michael & Klepper, Steven, 1982. "Time Paths in the Diffusion of Product Innovations," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 92(367), pages 630-653, September.
    44. Saras D. Sarasvathy, 2004. "Making It Happen: Beyond Theories of the Firm to Theories of Firm Design," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 28(6), pages 519-531, November.
    45. D. Stark, 1996. "Recombinant Property in East European Capitalism," Voprosy Ekonomiki, NP Voprosy Ekonomiki, vol. 6.
    46. Agrawal, Ajay & Cockburn, Iain, 2003. "The anchor tenant hypothesis: exploring the role of large, local, R&D-intensive firms in regional innovation systems," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 21(9), pages 1227-1253, November.
    47. Saras D. Sarasvathy & Nicholas Dew, 2013. "Without judgment: An empirically-based entrepreneurial theory of the firm," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 26(3), pages 277-296, September.
    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. Dayuan Li & Jialin Jiang & Lu Zhang & Chen Huang & Ding Wang, 2023. "Do CEOs with Sent-Down Movement Experience Foster Corporate Environmental Responsibility?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 185(1), pages 147-168, June.
    2. Wyrwich, Michael & Steinberg, Philip J. & Noseleit, Florian & de Faria, Pedro, 2022. "Is open innovation imprinted on new ventures? The cooperation-inhibiting legacy of authoritarian regimes," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(1).
    3. Huang, Shuangfa & Battisti, Martina & Pickernell, David, 2023. "The roles of innovation strategy and founding team diversity in new venture growth," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).

    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. Jose-Luis Hervas-Oliver, 2012. "Are technological gatekeepers constraining my cluster? Unfolding the paradox of gatekeepers resilience across cluster life cycle stages," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 1206, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised May 2012.
    2. Gil Avnimelech & Maryann Feldman, 2010. "Regional Corporate Spawning and the Role of Homegrown Companies," Review of Policy Research, Policy Studies Organization, vol. 27(4), pages 475-489, July.
    3. Jose-Luis Hervas-Oliver & Jose Albors-Garrigos, 2013. "Are Technological Gatekeepers Constraining my Cluster? Unfolding the paradox of gatekeepers resilience across cluster life cycle stages," DRUID Working Papers 13-04, DRUID, Copenhagen Business School, Department of Industrial Economics and Strategy/Aalborg University, Department of Business Studies.
    4. Hervas Oliver,Jose Luis & Gonzalez,Gregorio & Caja,Pedro, 2014. "Clusters and industrial districts: where is the literature going? Identifying emerging sub-fields of research," INGENIO (CSIC-UPV) Working Paper Series 201409, INGENIO (CSIC-UPV).
    5. Luis Cabral & Zhu Wang & Daniel Yi Xu, 2018. "Competitor, Complementors, Parents and Places: Explaining Regional Agglomeration in the U.S. Auto Industry," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 30, pages 1-29, October.
    6. Hervas-Oliver, Jose-Luis & Lleo, María & Cervello, Roberto, 2017. "The dynamics of cluster entrepreneurship: Knowledge legacy from parents or agglomeration effects? The case of the Castellon ceramic tile district," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 73-92.
    7. Ron Boschma, 2015. "Do spinoff dynamics or agglomeration externalities drive industry clustering? A reappraisal of Steven Klepper’s work," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 24(4), pages 859-873.
    8. Fredin, Sabrina, 2012. "The Dynamics and Evolution of Local Industries – The case of Linköping," Papers in Innovation Studies 2012/7, Lund University, CIRCLE - Centre for Innovation Research.
    9. Ron Martin & Peter Sunley, 2010. "The Place of Path Dependence in an Evolutionary Perspective on the Economic Landscape," Chapters, in: Ron Boschma & Ron Martin (ed.), The Handbook of Evolutionary Economic Geography, chapter 3, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    10. Rehák Štefan & Hudec Oto & Buček Milan, 2013. "Path dependency and path plasticity in emerging industries: Two cases from Slovakia," ZFW – Advances in Economic Geography, De Gruyter, vol. 57(1-2), pages 52-66, October.
    11. 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.
    12. Mark J. O. Bagley, 2019. "Networks, geography and the survival of the firm," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 29(4), pages 1173-1209, September.
    13. Sándor Juhász, 2021. "Spinoffs and tie formation in cluster knowledge networks," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 56(4), pages 1385-1404, April.
    14. Thomas Brenner & Johann Peter Murmann, 2016. "Using simulation experiments to test historical explanations: the development of the German dye industry 1857-1913," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 26(4), pages 907-932, October.
    15. Steven Klepper, 2010. "The Origin and Growth of Industry Clusters: The Making of Silicon Valley and Detroit," NBER Chapters, in: Cities and Entrepreneurship, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. Peter W. Roberts & Adina D. Sterling, 2012. "Network Progeny? Prefounding Social Ties and the Success of New Entrants," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 58(7), pages 1292-1304, July.
    17. Michel A. Habib & Ulrich Hege & Pierre Mella-Barral, 2013. "Entrepreneurial Spawning and Firm Characteristics," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 59(12), pages 2790-2804, December.
    18. Shepherd, Dean A. & Sattari, Rose & Patzelt, Holger, 2022. "A social model of opportunity development: Building and engaging communities of inquiry," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 37(1).
    19. Buenstorf, Guido & Costa, Carla, 2018. "Drivers of spin-off performance in industry clusters: Embodied knowledge or embedded firms?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(3), pages 663-673.
    20. Nelson, John P., 2023. "Differential “progressibility” in human know-how: A conceptual overview," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(2).

    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:eee:respol:v:49:y:2020:i:8:s0048733320301232. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/respol .

    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.