What drives patent performance of German biotech firms? The impact of R&D subsidies, knowledge networks and their location

Abstract

This paper aims at explaining whether R&D subsidies, the engagement in collaboration networks and the location influence the patent activities of biotech firms in Germany! We demonstrate that R&D subsidies focusing on single firms do not increase patent intensity, while subsidies which are granted to joint R&D projects do so to a certain extent. The number of knowledge links firms have is not influencing performance, but the type of network partners has an effect. We found strong evidence that some but not too much cognitive distance between collaboration partners and being located in a cluster have a positive effect.JEL classification: O33, O38, R58

Proximity, network formation and inventive performance: in search of the proximity paradox

“…This means that socially distant links yield higher patent quality for technological distance up to an optimal level; after that, as technological proximity increases the contribution of bridging ties decreases performance. This confirms our understanding of bridging ties that enable collaborations to combine different knowledge bases as opposed to closure ties that occur with a high technological overlap, and provide partial support for the proximity paradox highlighted in prior findings by Broekel and Boschma (2011) as well as Fornahl et al (2011).…”

“…First, geographical proximity does not seem to play any role, as in Fornahl et al (2011), suggesting that the result of collaboration does not suffer from the geographical distance. Technological proximity enters the model with a quadratic form (model 1c.…”

The cognitive and geographical structure of knowledge links and how they influence firms’ innovation performance

“…This is in line with Boschma and Frenken's findings (2010) and confirms the findings of other studies on this issue (cf. Broekel-Boschma 2012, Fornahl et al 2011). In accordance with existing research, it also helps firms to access knowledge sources at various geographical scales (cf.…”

Joint R&D Subsidies, Related Variety, and Regional Innovation

“…This shift has severe implications for the scientific analysis of R&D subsidies, which have so far not received sufficient attention (but see Czarnitzky and Fier 2003, Fornahl et al 2011, Broekel 2013. First, this concerns the fact that effects of subsidies are no longer restricted to individual organizations and hence may be missed in firm-level studies.…”

“…The aim of the paper is to contribute to this discussion by picking up the insights from research on territorial innovation systems and translate them to the context of public subsidies for R&D projects. This particularly concerns the importance of access to knowledge from within and outside regional borders (Maskell and Malmberg 2002, Audretsch and Feldmann 2004, Bathelt et al 2004; the type of knowledge resources shared in research collaboration (Nooteboom 2000, Branstetter and Sakakibara 2002, Breschi et al 2003; and the embeddedness of regional organizations into inter-organizational knowledge networks (Powell et al 1999, Fornahl et al 2011). …”