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on Network Economics |
| By: | Julia Spies |
| Abstract: | This study assesses the determinants of location choices of foreign multinational firms at the level of German federal states. Adjacency and existing firm networks are assumed to influence the investors’ profits in a given location by overcoming informational disadvantages when entering the new market. A conditional and a nested logit model resemble the structure of the location choice process of individual investors well. By using affiliate-level data between 1997 and 2005, the results confirm that firms react positively to local demand, a common border and existing firm networks, while unit labour costs exhibit the expected negative impact. In the sectoral estimations, it is shown that these effects vary in their relevance among manufacturing and service affiliates, and between upstream and downstream activities. |
| Keywords: | Location choice, multinational firms, nested logit model |
| JEL: | F23 R39 |
| Date: | 2009–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iaw:iawdip:47&r=net |
| By: | Tom Broekel; Ron Boschma |
| Abstract: | The importance of geographical proximity for interaction and knowledge sharing has been discussed extensively in economic geography in recent years. There is increasing consensus that it is just one out of many types of proximities that might be relevant. We argue that proximity may be a crucial driver for agents to connect and exchange knowledge, but too much proximity between these agents on any of the dimensions might harm their innovative performance at the same time. In a study on knowledge networks in the Dutch aviation industry, we test this so-called proximity paradox empirically. We find evidence that the proximity paradox holds to some degree. Our study clearly shows that cognitive, social and geographical proximity are crucial for explaining the knowledge network of the Dutch aviation industry. But while it takes cognitive, social and geographical proximity to exchange knowledge, we found evidence that proximity lowers firms’ innovative performance, but only in the cognitive dimension. |
| Keywords: | proximity, paradox, social network analysis, knowledge networks, aviation |
| JEL: | R11 R12 O32 |
| Date: | 2009–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egu:wpaper:0915&r=net |
| By: | Pierre-Alexandre Balland |
| Abstract: | Increasing attention had been given recently to understand how networks affect organizational performance in innovation studies. Surprisingly, underlying mechanisms of their evolution have been more neglected, and still remain unclear. This lack of interest is denounced today by recent papers which claim that it is a crucial issue for economic geography. Especially the influence of different forms of proximity on the network’s changes needs to be clarified. This paper contributes to this ongoing debate by determining empirically how organizations choose their partners given to their geographical, organizational, institutional, cognitive and social proximity. The relational database is constructed from publicly available information on the R&D collaborative projects of the 6th European Union Framework Program within the navigation by satellite industry (GNSS). Patterns of evolution of the GNSS collaboration network are determined according to a longitudinal study of the relational changes occurred between four consecutive years, from 2004 to 2007. Empirical results show that geographical, organizational and institutional proximity favour collaboration. Inversely, organizations prefer to avoid partnerships when they share a cognitive proximity (same knowledge bases). The last result demonstrates that the kind of project studied does not create a sufficient level of social proximity to stimulate collaboration. |
| Keywords: | proximity, collaboration networks, innovation, network longitudinal analysis, R&D collaborative projects, SIENA |
| JEL: | O32 R12 |
| Date: | 2009–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egu:wpaper:0914&r=net |