Declan Curran

The Role of Personal Factors in the Location Decision of Software Services Start-up Firms

Abstract This paper explores the factors which influence the business location decisions of start-ups, focusing in particular on the role of personal factors. Established explanations of industry location emphasize proximity to firms in the same or related industries and proximity to a wider set of business services, though recent research suggests that personal factors may play an important role in explanations of industry location—particularly in technology-enabled sectors. A survey of 97 new firms, founded between 2008 and 2012, in the Irish software services sector, shows that the business location decision is influenced by the personal motivation of entrepreneurs to attain a desired quality of life, and that this outweighs economic factors such as proximity to firms within the same or related industries, proximity to a broader set of supporting business services, infrastructure or the availability of government support schemes. Personal factors are particularly important to firms located outside the Dublin metropolitan area and to home-based businesses. This has important policy implications for national and regional governments seeking to encourage entrepreneurship in technology-enabled service sectors.

Regional economic resilience in Ireland: the roles of industrial structure and foreign inward investment

This paper examines the resilience of Irish regions during the course of the post-2007 economic crisis, focusing specifically on employment change in firms in receipt of assistance from the Irish government’s enterprise development agencies. The paper classifies both regions and sectors in terms of their employment performance both before and during the recession and employs a number of techniques to assess the roles of sectoral composition, firm nationality and other factors in shaping the recession’s regional impact. While nationality mix is significant, sectoral composition is seen as having a more important impact on regional employment performance. Other factors also have an important role in some regions, but their precise nature remains unknown.

Social Networks and Actual Knowledge Flow in the Irish Biotech Industry

ABSTRACT This paper presents an analysis of networks among small and medium-sized enterprises in the Irish biotech sector. The study applies social network analysis to determine the structure of networks of company directors and inventors in the biotech sector. In addition, on the basis of interviews, this article analyses the extent of actual knowledge flow through these industry networks. The paper makes both a theoretical and methodological contribution to innovation network research. In relation to theory, the findings of the social network analysis indicate that the extent and path of knowledge flow are influenced by both the type of knowledge in question and whether the network is of a formal or informal nature. Methodologically, the results of this paper raise questions about the application of social network analysis in innovation studies.

Inherited competence and spin-off performance

ABSTRACT In this paper we extend the hereditary theory of spin-off formation, developed by Klepper, by relating the concept of inherited competence to two different types of spin-offs—university and private sector spin-offs—and two different types of inherited competence—R&D competence and innovation competence. We then utilize this extension of Kleppers framework to study the evolution of a science-based industry—the biotech industry. Using the Irish biotech industry as a case-study, we find that differences in pre-entry experience manifest themselves most markedly in terms of the firms capacity to attract venture capital, with private sector spin-offs considerably outperforming university spin-offs. We argue that the superior performance of the private sector spin-offs is explained by the nature of their inherited competence in that they are characterized by higher levels of innovation competence.

DO CRISES INDUCE REFORM? A CRITICAL REVIEW OF CONCEPTION, METHODOLOGY AND EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE OF THE ‘CRISIS HYPOTHESIS’

The notion that economic crises induce the adoption of reform ranks among the most widely accepted concepts in the political economics literature. However, the underlying mechanism of the so†called ‘crisis hypothesis’ has yet to be fully understood. This paper provides a comprehensive survey of the relevant empirical evidence to date, and scrutinizes the operationalization of the hypothesis’ key concepts: crisis, reform and the political mediation of reform during crises. We argue that the social perception of both crises and the subsequent cost of reform requires consideration of how these concepts are operationalized. As a product of the broader economic and institutional environment, social perceptions largely determine the manner in which the political mediation of reform during crises works. Present†day methodological approaches fail to adequately reflect social perceptions and consequently compromise the determination of what constitutes both crisis and the cost of reform in the context of the crisis hypothesis. Most notably, the identification of crises by fixed thresholds constructed around macroeconomic variables impedes the interpretation of the hypothesis’ underlying mechanism. A fuller treatment of social perception within the operationalization of the hypothesis’ key concepts can enhance our understanding of how economic crises influence political dynamics in bringing about reform.

Strategic transformations in large Irish-owned businesses

Abstract This research explores resistance to a universal business organisation by analysing large firms in Ireland. Drawing on our dataset of large Irish firms, a strategy-structure-ownership-performance (SSOP) informed study identifies strategic transformations such as increased internationalisation and changes in ownership regime across three benchmark years of 1978, 1990 and 2010. However large Irish firms are not characterised by convergence to a universal business organisation. This study contributes to the SSOP project by extending it to a new geographic context and, by including sector of activity, by providing a contextually sensitive explanation for the absence of a universally applicable business organisation.

“Opportunistic” spin-offs in the aftermath of an adverse corporate event

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the inter-organisational dynamics, in terms of the triggers to spin-off formation and the genealogical inheritance of spin-offs, between a parent characterised by an adverse event and the spin-offs that emerge. The study focusses on the nature of the triggering event, exploring the heterogeneous nature of the processes by which some spin-offs are formed to exploit new opportunities created unexpectedly by an adverse event, and on the genealogical inheritance that forms the pre-entry experience of the founder. Design/methodology/approach A case study based on interview data with founders of spin-offs, supplemented with interviews with managers and industry experts, and with secondary data sources. The case study is of the spin-offs from a successful firm, Elan Corporation, reported to be the world’s 20th largest drug firm in 2002, that experienced an adverse event in 2002. The Elan case offers the opportunity to focus exclusively on what Buenstorf (2009) refers to as necessity spin-offs. Prior to collecting data it was necessary to identify the population of spin-offs from Elan. Findings This study extends existing research by identifying “opportunistic spin-offs”: spin-offs that occur in the wake of an adverse event where the entrepreneur exploits an unexpected opportunity to engage in entrepreneurship but does not feel compelled to establish the spin-off. These spin-offs are characterised by “unexpected opportunities”, “opportunistic acquisition of assets” and, perhaps reflecting the seniority and experience of those involved, “alternative employment opportunities”. Originality/value Understanding the process of spin-off formation is important because it provides insight into how and why individuals initiate new ventures. Spin-offs are an important source of new firms and an important mechanism in the process of industry evolution. The study contributes to the literature on spin-offs by providing evidence of the heterogeneous nature of spin-offs that occur in the aftermath of an adverse event, leading to the classification of some spin-offs as “opportunistic spin-offs”. The study contributes to the entrepreneurship literature by demonstrating that an important trigger for venture creation is unexpected changes in an individual’s employment circumstances.

Sectoral differences in determinants of export intensity

This study investigates firm characteristic determinants of export intensity in small firms. The originality of our approach is a comparative analysis of export intensity between firms in the computer software and manufacturing sectors, using a quasi-maximum likelihood estimation to test for the correct specification of the conditional mean model. Results indicate that larger, younger firms have greater export intensity in the computer software sector than in manufacturing. Research and development expenditure is equally important for export intensity in both sectors, but patent income is not significant. Sourcing managerial advice and expertise from the national development agency is important for firms in the manufacturing industry, but not for computer software firms. It is therefore important for export promotion organisations to publicise supports, as few small firms are aware of their availability. Our findings are especially valuable for policy makers concerned with low levels of export intensity among small firms.

“Articles of Practical Banking Written by Practical Bankers” The Bankers’ Magazine Reportage of the Great Irish Famine

This article analyses the reportage of the banking publication Bankers’ Magazine over the duration of the Great Irish Famine (1845–50). It explores attitudes to famine incidence and relief prevalent among Irish and British banking officials, as expounded in the trade publication representing their views. These professionals, employed in branch networks across both Irish and British society, were not political elites or ideologues, but rather saw themselves as ‘practical bankers’. This analysis shows that the Bankers’ Magazine reportage of the famine espoused, albeit in a measured rhetoric, the prevailing economic mindset based on self-reliance and the free market mechanism, while repeatedly acknowledging Irish famine-era suffering and reconciling itself to the expediency of ‘unproductive’ government-funded famine relief efforts. This analysis also shows the Bankers’ Magazine’s famine reportage to have largely been subsumed by its campaign against the Bank Charter Act. More generally, the article argues that the Irish banking system offers a useful, though underutilised, lens through which to view famine-era socio-economic institutional workings and public opinion.

British Regional Growth and Sectoral Trends ? Global and Local Spatial Econometric Approaches

This article looks beneath the surface of British sub-regional aggregate Gross Value Added (GVA) growth over the period 1995 to 2007, by examining how the differing growth dynamics of the secondary and services sectors have influenced the overall regional growth process. A spatial econometric analysis is undertaken which tests regional secondary and services real GVA per capita for absolute and conditional convergence at the NUTS 3 level. Both local and global spatial analysis techniques are utilized in order to gain a detailed insight into the growth process over the period 1995 to 2007.