IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/envira/v28y1996i5p783-817.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Development of Sweden's R&D-Intensive Electronics Industries: Exports, Outsourcing, and Territorial Distribution

Author

Listed:
  • L Suarez-Villa

    (School of Social Ecology, University of California, Irvine, CA 92717-5150, USA)

  • C Karlsson

    (Jönköping International Business School, Jönköping University, S-551 11 Jönköping, Sweden)

Abstract

Sweden's research-intensive electronics industries have thrived by developing export-market niches that rely greatly on continuous innovation and substantial expenditures in R&D. Over the past two decades, three R&D-intensive sectors (telecommunications equipment, electronic instruments, and computing-equipment manufacturing) have experienced a progressive territorial distribution, that has made them less reliant on the metropolitan concentration of the capital for their outsourcing and research arrangements. In this article we explore the relationship between R&D intensity, territorial distribution, subcontracting, and establishment performance in the R&D-intensive electronics industries. The export performance of these industries is considered first, along with its relationship with employment characteristics and territorial location. An analysis of the territorial distribution, and its relationship with establishment downsizing and subcontracting, provides insights on the significance of lower costs and higher R&D intensity for small-scale operations. Statistical analyses of R&D intensity and performance variables that include labour skills, plant size, production costs, fixed capital assets, and profitability, with establishment-level survey data, provide important insights on the effects of subcontracting and any spatial differences resulting thereof.

Suggested Citation

  • L Suarez-Villa & C Karlsson, 1996. "The Development of Sweden's R&D-Intensive Electronics Industries: Exports, Outsourcing, and Territorial Distribution," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 28(5), pages 783-817, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:28:y:1996:i:5:p:783-817
    DOI: 10.1068/a280783
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1068/a280783
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1068/a280783?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. Luis Suarez-Villa & Juan R. Cuadrado Roura, 1993. "Thirty Years of Spanish Regional Change: Interregional Dynamics and Sectoral Transformation," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 15(2), pages 122-156, August.
    2. Fischer, Manfred M & Nijkamp, Peter, 1988. "The Role of Small Firms for Regional Revitalization," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 22(0), pages 28-42, February.
    3. Kim B. Clark, 1989. "Project Scope and Project Performance: The Effect of Parts Strategy and Supplier Involvement on Product Development," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 35(10), pages 1247-1263, October.
    4. Carlsson, Bo, 1992. "The Rise of Small Business: Causes and Consequences," Working Paper Series 357, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    5. Ariel Pakes & Mark Schankerman, 1984. "An Exploration into the Determinants of Research Intensity," NBER Chapters, in: R&D, Patents, and Productivity, pages 209-232, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Brusco, Sebastiano, 1982. "The Emilian Model: Productive Decentralisation and Social Integration," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 6(2), pages 167-184, June.
    7. Braunerhjelm, Pontus, 1991. "Svenska underleverantörer och småföretag i det nya Europa," Working Paper Series 303, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    8. Ivan Turok, 1993. "Contrasts in Ownership and Development: Local versus Global in 'Silicon Glen'," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 30(2), pages 365-386, March.
    9. Patel, Pari & Pavitt, Keith, 1987. "Is Western Europe losing the technological race?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 16(2-4), pages 59-85, August.
    10. Eliasson, Gunnar & Fölster, Stefan & Lindberg, Thomas & Pousette, Tomas & Taymaz, Erol, 1990. "The Knowledge Based Information Economy," Working Paper Series 256, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    11. Gerald Silverberg & Luc Soete (ed.), 1994. "The Economics Of Growth And Technical Change," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 408.
    12. Edward Lorenz, 1988. "Neither Friends nor Strangers," Post-Print halshs-00483728, HAL.
    13. Evert Jan Davelaar & Peter Nijkamp, 1989. "The Role of the Metropolitan Milieu as an Incubation Centre for Technological Innovations: A Dutch Case Study," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 26(5), pages 517-525, October.
    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. Bjerke, Lina & Karlsson, Charlie, 2009. "Metropolitan Regions and Product Innovation," Working Paper Series in Economics and Institutions of Innovation 166, Royal Institute of Technology, CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies.
    2. Luis Suarez-Villa & Ruth Rama, 1996. "Outsourcing, R&D and the Pattern of Intra-metropolitan Location: The Electronics Industries of Madrid," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 33(7), pages 1155-1197, August.
    3. Luis Suarez-Villa & Wallace Walrod, 1997. "Operational Strategy, R&D and Intra-metropolitan Clustering in a Polycentric Structure: The Advanced Electronics Industries of the Los Angeles Basin," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 34(9), pages 1343-1380, August.
    4. Peter Sjoholt, 1998. "Outsourcing of services and regional impact on employment," ERSA conference papers ersa98p395, European Regional Science Association.

    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. Luis Suarez-Villa & Ruth Rama, 1996. "Outsourcing, R&D and the Pattern of Intra-metropolitan Location: The Electronics Industries of Madrid," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 33(7), pages 1155-1197, August.
    2. Luis Suarez-Villa & Wallace Walrod, 1997. "Operational Strategy, R&D and Intra-metropolitan Clustering in a Polycentric Structure: The Advanced Electronics Industries of the Los Angeles Basin," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 34(9), pages 1343-1380, August.
    3. Niles Hansen, 1991. "Factories in Danish Fields: How High-Wage, Flexible Production has Succeeded in Peripheral Jutland," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 14(2), pages 109-132, August.
    4. Elsie L. Echeverri-Carroll, 1994. "Flexible Linkages and Offshore Assembly Facilities in Developing Countries," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 17(1), pages 49-73, April.
    5. Sobrero, Maurizio. & Roberts, Edward Baer., 1996. "The trade-off between efficiency and learning in inter-organizational relationships," Working papers 3896-96., Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Sloan School of Management.
    6. Frank Pyke, 1988. "Co-Operative Practices among Small and Medium-Sized Establishments," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 2(3), pages 352-365, September.
    7. Johansson, Dan, 1997. "The Number and the Size Distribution of Firms in Sweden and Other European Countries," Working Paper Series 483, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    8. Eliasson, Gunnar, 1992. "The Theory of the Firm and the Theory of Economic Growth: An essay on the economics of institutions, competition and the capacity of the political system to cope with unexpected change," Working Paper Series 349, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    9. Gietzmann, Miles B., 1996. "Incomplete contracts and the make or buy decision: Governance design and attainable flexibility," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 21(6), pages 611-626, August.
    10. Nassimbeni, Guido, 1996. "Factors underlying operational JIT purchasing practices: Results of an empirical research," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 275-288, April.
    11. Marta Gancarczyk, 2010. "Model schyłku i odrodzenia klastrów," Gospodarka Narodowa. The Polish Journal of Economics, Warsaw School of Economics, issue 3, pages 1-21.
    12. Nijkamp, P., 1990. "Regional economic growth and regional policy : a European perspective," Serie Research Memoranda 0076, VU University Amsterdam, Faculty of Economics, Business Administration and Econometrics.
    13. Cirer-Costa, Joan Carles, 2015. "The pressure of tourism on the Mediterranean coastline and beaches," MPRA Paper 62843, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Karbowski, Adam & Prokop, Jacek, 2019. "The Impact of Vertical R&D Cooperation on Market Performance of Firms," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 7(4), pages 73-89.
    15. Carla Costa & Rui Baptista, 2012. "Agglomeration vs. Organizational Reproduction: The Molds Cluster in Portugal," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 1222, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Nov 2012.
    16. Jan Fagerberg, 2003. "Schumpeter and the revival of evolutionary economics: an appraisal of the literature," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 13(2), pages 125-159, April.
    17. Bo Carlsson & Pontus Braunerhjelm & Maureen McKelvey & Christer Olofsson & Lars Persson & Håkan Ylinenpää, 2013. "The evolving domain of entrepreneurship research," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 41(4), pages 913-930, December.
    18. Jacques Mairesse & Agnès Bensaid & Nathalie Greenan, 1997. "Informatisation, recherche et productivité," Revue Économique, Programme National Persée, vol. 48(3), pages 591-603.
    19. Gittleman, Maury & ten Raa, Thijs & Wolff, Edward N., 2006. "The vintage effect in TFP-growth: An analysis of the age structure of capital," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 17(3), pages 306-328, September.
    20. Ariel Mendez & Elena Ragazzi, 2007. "Coopération et gouvernance dans deux districts en transition," CERIS Working Paper 200710, CNR-IRCrES Research Institute on Sustainable Economic Growth - Torino (TO) ITALY - former Institute for Economic Research on Firms and Growth - Moncalieri (TO) ITALY.

    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:28:y:1996:i:5:p:783-817. 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.