Paul Heffernan

High-technology clustering through spin-out and attraction: The Cambridge case

Garnsey E. and Heffernan P. (2005) High‐technology clustering through spin‐out and attraction: the Cambridge case, Regional Studies 39 , 1127–1144. Co‐determinants that have shaped developments in high‐tech centres elsewhere are absent in Cambridge, UK, which thus provides a unique case demonstrating how technology enterprise around a science centre can transform local economic activity. But to capture dimensions of cumulative change requires a longitudinal approach. Here indicators that include rates of formation of new firms and their survival and growth over time are used to chart the transformation of collective capabilities. Emerging and growing areas of local competence are identified from data on the sectoral distribution of activity over time and on clusters of related activity in the Cambridge area that point to the emergence of specialized labour markets. The emergence of clusters of firms is related to serial spin‐out from the university and local businesses. Channels of diffusion of knowledge and influence among local firms are mapped by graphics of spin‐out clusters. Processes mobilizing social capital can be detected in the way technology‐based firms evolved a collective response to local problems that could not be solved by individual enterprise.

The Cambridge high tech cluster: an evolutionary perspective

Applied Evolutionary Economics and Economic Geography aims to further advance empirical methodologies in evolutionary economics, with a special emphasis on geography and firm location. It does so by bringing together a select group of leading scholars including economists, geographers and sociologists, all of whom share an interest in explaining the uneven distribution of economic activities in space and the historical processes that have produced these patterns.

Diversity and Uniformity in the Evolution of Early Information and Communication Technologies

This book applies ideas and methods from the complexity perspective to key concerns in the social sciences, exploring co-evolutionary processes that have not yet been addressed in the technical or popular literature on complexity. Authorities in a variety of fields – including evolutionary economics, innovation and regeneration studies, urban modelling and history – re-evaluate their disciplines within this framework. The book explores the complex dynamic processes that give rise to socio-economic change over space and time, with reference to empirical cases including the emergence of knowledge-intensive industries and decline of mature regions, the operation of innovative networks and the evolution of localities and cities. Sustainability is a persistent theme and the practicability of intervention is examined in the light of these perspectives.

Organizational Emergence and Firm Formation

This article presents the emergence and evolution of an organization as a response to the demands faced by the newly created firm, shaped by a process of problem solving in response to change emerging both from the environment and from the firm itself. Successful firms are those that successfully adapt as demands evolve, in this case, specifically with respect to their organization. Such adaptation requires flexibility and diversity within the firm, attributes that must be shaped by the firms managers.

Bridging the gaps in industry evolution: Solar photovoltaic industry

The solar photovoltaic (PV) industry has potential to offer significant opportunities for investors, manufacturers and technology adopters. However, there are technological, market, and institutional forces that have slowed the industrys emergence and limited the contribution of PV electricity. This paper uses interviews with industry experts and company directors to show a framework for understanding technology/industry evolution. The contributions of this research are the identification and understanding of the gaps in the evolution of the PV industry, how these gaps can be bridged by relevant actors, and how this process can result in further evolution of the industry.

Technical and contextual challenges in developing advanced medicinal products: The example of cytotherapeutic development

The generation of new medicinal products is both a contributor to global economic growth and a source of valuable benefits to human health. Despite continuing medical advances, there are numerous diseases for which effective therapeutic options are either limited or absent.

Constraints on the Growth of Technology-Based Firms – Perceptions and Effects

The failure of small firms to grow into large enterprises has been identified as a significant problem for the economy of the UK. This study examines the constraints facing IT firms in the Software and Computing Services sector in particular. Research was undertaken in the form of interviews examining firm attributes and reported constraints. No clear patterns emerged linking specific constraints with patterns of growth, but the importance of effective management was a common theme. Apparent anomalies in the responses at interview direct attention to the important and interesting question of the extent to which the “constraints” on firms’ growth are determined by entrepreneurs’ perceptions and interpretations of their firms and the environments within which they operate.

Complex dynamic processes in the evolution of early information and communication technologies

The creation of novelty and its subsequent retention or elimination by evolutionary mechanisms is a central theme in complexity studies. By examining the evolution of three information and communication technologies, this paper explores linkages between variety generation, selection and propagation. Tensions are identified between the benefits of variety to meet diverse user needs and the value of standardization to facilitate exchange. In ICT industries, the usefulness of a product or service increases with numbers of users. The benefits of interoperability, the facilitation of complementary technologies around a standard and user switching costs are among network externalities. These contribute to the emergence of dominant designs and standard protocols, which reduce the variety of enabling or platform technologies but increase complementary product and process innovations. The linkages between evolutionary selection and propagation in ICT have accelerated the pace of innovation, but could in principle have the reverse effect, unless the effects of asymmetries of market power and proprietary standards are offset. Long term support for science and technology and entrepreneurial activity provide exogenous sources of variety that can renew innovation.