IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/urbstu/v59y2022i5p1085-1102.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Do local start-ups and knowledge spillovers matter for firm-level R&D investment?

Author

Listed:
  • Frank Crowley

    (University College Cork, Ireland)

  • Declan Jordan

    (University College Cork, Ireland)

Abstract

What happens to firm-level research and development (R&D) when urban locations have more knowledge spillovers and are more entrepreneurial? This article explores the potential tension between knowledge spillovers, start-ups and innovation effort in existing firms. The relationship is empirically tested using Swedish firm-level data and municipality-level data on start-ups. The results indicate that having more start-ups in urban municipalities is associated with lower firm-level R&D expenditure. However, this relationship is not linear, where the negative association between the level of new firm formation and firm-level R&D expenditure decreases with scale. This suggests that the relationship between local entrepreneurship and a business’ R&D decisions is conditioned by the extent of that entrepreneurship.

Suggested Citation

  • Frank Crowley & Declan Jordan, 2022. "Do local start-ups and knowledge spillovers matter for firm-level R&D investment?," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 59(5), pages 1085-1102, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:59:y:2022:i:5:p:1085-1102
    DOI: 10.1177/0042098021995105
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0042098021995105
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0042098021995105?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. Donald McNeill, 2017. "Start-ups and the entrepreneurial city," City, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(2), pages 232-239, March.
    2. Mina, Andrea & Bascavusoglu-Moreau, Elif & Hughes, Alan, 2014. "Open service innovation and the firm's search for external knowledge," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(5), pages 853-866.
    3. Borje Johansson & Hans Loof, 2008. "Innovation Activities Explained By Firm Attributes And Location," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(6), pages 533-552.
    4. Joel A. C. Baum & Tony Calabrese & Brian S. Silverman, 2000. "Don't go it alone: alliance network composition and startups' performance in Canadian biotechnology," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(3), pages 267-294, March.
    5. Markus Grillitsch & Roman Martin & Martin Srholec, 2017. "Knowledge Base Combinations and Innovation Performance in Swedish Regions," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 93(5), pages 458-479, October.
    6. Sirilli, Giorgio & Evangelista, Rinaldo, 1998. "Technological innovation in services and manufacturing: results from Italian surveys," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 27(9), pages 881-899, December.
    7. Francesco Bogliacino & Mario Pianta, 2016. "The Pavitt Taxonomy, revisited: patterns of innovation in manufacturing and services," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 33(2), pages 153-180, August.
    8. Crescenzi, Riccardo & Gagliardi, Luisa, 2018. "The innovative performance of firms in heterogeneous environments: The interplay between external knowledge and internal absorptive capacities," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(4), pages 782-795.
    9. Rune Dahl Fitjar & Andrés Rodríguez-Pose, 2017. "Nothing is in the Air," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(1), pages 22-39, March.
    10. Chrystalla Kapetaniou & Soo Hee Lee, 2019. "Geographical proximity and open innovation of SMEs in Cyprus," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 52(1), pages 261-276, January.
    11. Qi Guo & Canfei He & Deyu Li, 2016. "Entrepreneurship in China: The role of localisation and urbanisation economies," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 53(12), pages 2584-2606, September.
    12. Tether, Bruce S., 2002. "Who co-operates for innovation, and why: An empirical analysis," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(6), pages 947-967, August.
    13. Glaeser, Edward L & Hedi D. Kallal & Jose A. Scheinkman & Andrei Shleifer, 1992. "Growth in Cities," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 100(6), pages 1126-1152, December.
      • Edward L. Glaeser & Hedi D. Kallal & Jose A. Scheinkman & Andrei Shleifer, 1991. "Growth in Cities," NBER Working Papers 3787, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
      • Glaeser, Edward Ludwig & Kallal, Hedi D. & Scheinkman, Jose A. & Shleifer, Andrei, 1992. "Growth in Cities," Scholarly Articles 3451309, Harvard University Department of Economics.
    14. Claudia Capozza & Sergio Salomone & Ernesto Somma, 2018. "Local industrial structure, agglomeration economies and the creation of innovative start-ups: evidence from the Italian case," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(7-8), pages 749-775, August.
    15. Justin Doran & Declan Jordan & Eoin O’Leary, 2012. "The effects of the frequency of spatially proximate and distant interaction on innovation by Irish SMEs," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(7-8), pages 705-727, September.
    16. Michael Stuetzer & David B. Audretsch & Martin Obschonka & Samuel D. Gosling & Peter J. Rentfrow & Jeff Potter, 2018. "Entrepreneurship culture, knowledge spillovers and the growth of regions," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(5), pages 608-618, May.
    17. Paola Cardamone, 2018. "Firm innovation and spillovers in Italy: Does geographical proximity matter?," Letters in Spatial and Resource Sciences, Springer, vol. 11(1), pages 1-16, March.
    18. Colombo, Luca & Dawid, Herbert, 2016. "Complementary assets, start-ups and incentives to innovate," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 177-190.
    19. Klepper, Steven, 2001. "Employee Startups in High-Tech Industries," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 10(3), pages 639-674, September.
    20. Maria Rosaria Della Peruta & Manlio Giudice & Rosa Lombardi & Pedro Soto-Acosta, 2018. "Open Innovation, Product Development, and Inter-Company Relationships Within Regional Knowledge Clusters," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 9(2), pages 680-693, June.
    21. 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.
    22. Rajshree Agarwal & Alfonso Gambardella & Daniel M. Olson, 2016. "Employee Mobility and Entrepreneurship A Virtual Special Issue [1]," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(13), pages 11-21, December.
    23. Frank Crowley & Declan Jordan, 2017. "Does more competition increase business-level innovation? Evidence from domestically focused firms in emerging economies," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(5), pages 477-488, July.
    24. Cohen, Wesley M & Levinthal, Daniel A, 1989. "Innovation and Learning: The Two Faces of R&D," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 99(397), pages 569-596, September.
    25. Martin Andersson & Olof Ejermo, 2005. "How does accessibility to knowledge sources affect the innovativeness of corporations?—evidence from Sweden," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 39(4), pages 741-765, December.
    26. Philippe Aghion & Nick Bloom & Richard Blundell & Rachel Griffith & Peter Howitt, 2005. "Competition and Innovation: an Inverted-U Relationship," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 120(2), pages 701-728.
    27. Spyros Arvanitis, 2008. "Explaining Innovative Activity In Service Industries: Micro Data Evidence For Switzerland," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(3), pages 209-225.
    28. Michael Fritsch & Pamela Mueller, 2004. "Effects of New Business Formation on Regional Development over Time," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(8), pages 961-975.
    29. Griliches, Zvi, 1998. "R&D and Productivity," National Bureau of Economic Research Books, University of Chicago Press, edition 1, number 9780226308869.
    30. Stephen Roper & James H. Love, 2018. "Knowledge context, learning and innovation: an integrating framework," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(4), pages 339-364, April.
    31. Morikawa, Masayuki, 2019. "Innovation in the service sector and the role of patents and trade secrets: Evidence from Japanese firms," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 43-51.
    32. Rune Dahl Fitjar & Franz Huber & Andrés Rodríguez-Pose, 2016. "Not too close, not too far: testing the Goldilocks principle of ‘optimal’ distance in innovation networks," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(6), pages 465-487, August.
    33. Zvi Griliches, 1998. "R&D and Productivity: The Econometric Evidence," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number gril98-1.
    34. Tether, B. S., 1998. "Small and large firms: sources of unequal innovations?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 27(7), pages 725-745, November.
    35. Tom Broekel & Wladimir Mueller, 2018. "Critical links in knowledge networks – What about proximities and gatekeeper organisations?," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(10), pages 919-939, November.
    36. Pavitt, Keith, 1984. "Sectoral patterns of technical change: Towards a taxonomy and a theory," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 13(6), pages 343-373, December.
    37. Richard R. Nelson, 1991. "Why do firms differ, and how does it matter?," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(S2), pages 61-74, December.
    38. Jinyoung Kim & Gerald Marschke, 2005. "Labor Mobility of Scientists, Technological Diffusion, and the Firm's Patenting Decision," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 36(2), pages 298-317, Summer.
    39. Frank Crowley & Philip McCann, 2018. "Firm innovation and productivity in Europe: evidence from innovation-driven and transition-driven economies," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(11), pages 1203-1221, March.
    40. Francis J. Greene & Kevin F. Mole & David J. Storey, 2004. "Does More Mean Worse? Three Decades of Enterprise Policy in the Tees Valley," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 41(7), pages 1207-1228, June.
    41. Michael Fritsch & Pamela Mueller & Antje Weyh, 2005. "Direct and indirect effects of new business formation on regional employment," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(9), pages 545-548.
    42. Neves, Pedro Cunha & Sequeira, Tiago Neves, 2018. "Spillovers in the production of knowledge: A meta-regression analysis," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(4), pages 750-767.
    43. Paula Prenzel & Raquel Ortega-Argilés & Claudio Cozza & Mariacristina Piva, 2018. "Interplay between regional and industrial aspects in the R&D–productivity link: evidence from Europe," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(5), pages 659-672, May.
    44. Gene M. Grossman & Elhanan Helpman, 1993. "Innovation and Growth in the Global Economy," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262570971, April.
    45. Masucci, Monica & Brusoni, Stefano & Cennamo, Carmelo, 2020. "Removing bottlenecks in business ecosystems: The strategic role of outbound open innovation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(1).
    46. Chloé Duvivier & Mario Polèse, 2018. "The great urban techno shift: Are central neighbourhoods the next silicon valleys? Evidence from three Canadian metropolitan areas," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 97(4), pages 1083-1111, November.
    47. Tania Babina & Sabrina T. Howell, 2018. "Entrepreneurial Spillovers from Corporate R&D," NBER Working Papers 25360, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    48. Frank Crowley & Philip McCann, 2015. "Innovation and Productivity in Irish Firms," Spatial Economic Analysis, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(2), pages 181-204, June.
    49. M. Teresa Costa Campi & AgustÌ Segarra Blasco & Elisabet Viladecans Marsal, 2004. "The Location of New Firms and the Life Cycle of Industries," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 22(3_4), pages 265-281, April.
    50. 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.
    51. Victoria Castillo & Lucas Figal Garone & Alessandro Maffioli & Sofia Rojo & Rodolfo Stucchi, 2020. "Knowledge Spillovers through Labour Mobility: An Employer–Employee Analysis," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(3), pages 469-488, March.
    52. Rikard Eriksson & Marcin Rataj, 2019. "The geography of starts-ups in Sweden. The role of human capital, social capital and agglomeration," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(9-10), pages 735-754, October.
    53. Shima Hamidi & Ahoura Zandiatashbar, 2019. "Does urban form matter for innovation productivity? A national multi-level study of the association between neighbourhood innovation capacity and urban sprawl," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 56(8), pages 1576-1594, June.
    54. Roper, Stephen & Vahter, Priit & Love, James H., 2013. "Externalities of openness in innovation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(9), pages 1544-1554.
    55. Roper, Stephen & Love, James H., 2002. "Innovation and export performance: evidence from the UK and German manufacturing plants," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(7), pages 1087-1102, September.
    56. David Urbano & Sebastian Aparicio & David Audretsch, 2019. "Twenty-five years of research on institutions, entrepreneurship, and economic growth: what has been learned?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 53(1), pages 21-49, June.
    57. Richard Florida & Patrick Adler & Charlotta Mellander, 2017. "The city as innovation machine," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(1), pages 86-96, January.
    58. Andrew Johnston & Robert Huggins, 2017. "University-industry links and the determinants of their spatial scope: A study of the knowledge intensive business services sector," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 96(2), pages 247-260, June.
    59. Markus Grillitsch & Josephine V Rekers, 2016. "How does multi-scalar institutional change affect localized learning processes? A case study of the med-tech sector in Southern Sweden," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 48(1), pages 154-171, January.
    60. Laursen, Keld & Salter, Ammon J., 2014. "The paradox of openness: Appropriability, external search and collaboration," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(5), pages 867-878.
    61. Zoltan Acs & David Audretsch & Pontus Braunerhjelm & Bo Carlsson, 2012. "Growth and entrepreneurship," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 39(2), pages 289-300, September.
    62. Colombo, Luca & Dawid, Herbert, 2016. "Complementary assets, start-ups and incentives to innovate," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 177-190.
    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. Dumont, Michel, 2022. "Public support to business research and development in Belgium: fourth evaluation," MPRA Paper 115418, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Qingyi Chen & Qinglan Qian & Zuolin Yao & Na Yang & Junyue Tong & Yujiao Wang, 2022. "Global–Local Knowledge Spillover Strategic Coupling Network: Biopharmaceutical Industry Study of GBA, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-17, November.

    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. Crowley, Frank & Jordan, Declan, 2018. "The trade-off between absorptive capacity and appropriability of the returns to innovation effort," SRERC Working Paper Series SRERCWP2018-2, University College Cork (UCC), Spatial and Regional Economic Research Centre (SRERC).
    2. Timo Mitze & Teemu Makkonen, 2020. "When interaction matters: the contingent effects of spatial knowledge spillovers and internal R&I on firm productivity," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 45(4), pages 1088-1120, August.
    3. Paola Cardamone, 2017. "A Spatial Analysis of the R&D-Productivity Nexus at Firm Level," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(3), pages 313-335, September.
    4. Robert Huggins & Piers Thompson, 2015. "Entrepreneurship, innovation and regional growth: a network theory," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 45(1), pages 103-128, June.
    5. Justin Doran & Geraldine Ryan & Jane Bourke & Frank Crowley, 2019. "In-House Or Outsourcing Skills: How Best To Manage For Innovation?," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 24(01), pages 1-25, February.
    6. Robert Huggins & Daniel Prokop & Piers Thompson, 2020. "Universities and open innovation: the determinants of network centrality," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 45(3), pages 718-757, June.
    7. Becker, Bettina & Roper, Stephen & Vanino, Enrico, 2023. "Assessing innovation spillovers from publicly funded R&D and innovation support: Evidence from the UK," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    8. Cohen, Wesley M., 2010. "Fifty Years of Empirical Studies of Innovative Activity and Performance," 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 129-213, Elsevier.
    9. Cassiman, Bruno & Perez-Castrillo, David & Veugelers, Reinhilde, 2002. "Endogenizing know-how flows through the nature of R&D investments," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 20(6), pages 775-799, June.
    10. Andreas Koch & Harald Strotmann, 2006. "Determinants of Innovative Activity in Newly Founded Knowledge Intensive Business Service Firms," International Studies in Entrepreneurship, in: Michael Fritsch & Juergen Schmude (ed.), Entrepreneurship in the Region, chapter 10, pages 195-224, Springer.
    11. Raquel Ortega-Argilés, 2022. "The evolution of regional entrepreneurship policies: “no one size fits all”," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 69(3), pages 585-610, December.
    12. Niklas Elert, 2014. "What determines entry? Evidence from Sweden," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 53(1), pages 55-92, August.
    13. Rodriguez, Mercedes & Doloreux, David & Shearmur, Richard, 2017. "Variety in external knowledge sourcing and innovation novelty: Evidence from the KIBS sector in Spain," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 35-43.
    14. Dhanora, Madan & Sharma, Ruchi & Khachoo, Qayoom, 2018. "Non-linear impact of product and process innovations on market power: A theoretical and empirical investigation," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 67-77.
    15. Amin,Mohammad, 2021. "Does Competition from Informal Firms Impact R&D by Formal SMEs ? Evidence Using Firm-Level Survey Data," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9868, The World Bank.
    16. Francesco Aiello & Paola Cardamone & Valeria Pupo, 2019. "New evidence on the firm-university linkages in Europe. The role of meritocratic management practices," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(6), pages 813-828, November.
    17. Wallin, Tina, 2017. "An empirical study of firms’ absorptive capacity and export diversification," Working Paper Series in Economics and Institutions of Innovation 452, Royal Institute of Technology, CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies.
    18. Joern Block & Roy Thurik & Haibo Zhou, 2013. "What turns knowledge into innovative products? The role of entrepreneurship and knowledge spillovers," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 23(4), pages 693-718, September.
    19. Sánchez-Sellero, Pedro & Rosell-Martínez, Jorge & García-Vázquez, José Manuel, 2014. "Absorptive capacity from foreign direct investment in Spanish manufacturing firms," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 429-439.
    20. Iammarino, Simona & McCann, Philip, 2006. "The structure and evolution of industrial clusters: Transactions, technology and knowledge spillovers," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(7), pages 1018-1036, September.

    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:urbstu:v:59:y:2022:i:5:p:1085-1102. 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: http://www.gla.ac.uk/departments/urbanstudiesjournal .

    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.