Firm Growth Dynamics under Different Knowledge Regimes

Investigators

Prof Mariana Mazzucato, The Open University
Prof Paul Quintas, The Open University
Prof Luigi Orsenigo, The Open University and Brescia University
Lillian Jensen, PhD student, The Open University
Dr Pelin Demirel, Nottingham University Business School

Funding

ESRC studentship on Firm Growth Dynamics (2004-2007)
British Academy Grant on Firm Growth Dynamics Under Different Knowledge Regimes (2005-2007)
EU Network of Excellence Dynamics of Institutions and Markets in Europe (DIME) Work Package in RAL 2 (2003-2008)

Objectives

The project studies co-evolution of innovation and firm performance measures (such as growth rates, profits and stock prices) during different periods of the industry life-cycle and in different 'types' of industries. The kinds of questions we ask are:

• Do firm growth rates and stock prices exhibit different time series patterns in different knowledge regimes, e.g. in the random screening vs. the guided screening phase of the pharmaceutical industry?
• Is there evidence for the 'random walk' theory of firm growth? And if so, how does this change in different periods of the industry life-cycle or in different knowledge regimes?
• Is the bi-modal distribution of firm sizes (as well as the 'fat tails' in growth rate distributions) a result of a structural change in the way that innovation occurs between large and small firms?
• Are there correlations between the 'persistence' of innovation and the persistence (or the lack of it) in profits and growth rates?

Publications

Demirel, P. and Mazzucato, M. (2006), "Firm Growth Dynamics Under Different Knowledge Regimes: Implications for Regional Dynamics", The Open University Discussion Paper, 53-2006, Forthcoming: Regional Studies.

Mazzucato, M. and G. Dosi (Eds, 2006) Knowledge Accumulation and Industry Evolution: Pharma-Biotech, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge UK, ISBN 0-521-85822-4, 446 pages.

Mazzucato, M. and Tancioni, M. (2006), "Stock Price Volatility and Patent Citation Dynamics: the case of biotech-pharma", The Open University Discussion Paper, 52-2006.

Orsenigo, L., Dosi, G. and Mazzucato, M. (2006) "The Dynamics of Knowledge Accumulation, Regulation and Appropriability in the Pharma-Biotech Sector: some Policy Issues", in Knowledge Accumulation and Industry Evolution: Pharma-Biotech, Ed. by M. Mazzucato and G. Dosi, Cambridge University Press (2006).

Events

27-28 October 2008 - ESRC - International Conference on Genomics and Society: Reinventing Life?
IKD-Innogen session: Innovation and Growth in Pharma-Biotech: puzzles and interpretations
Papers presented by Mariana Mazzucato, Gary P. Pisano, William Lazonick.

15-16 December 2006 - The Open University, London. In association with DIME (Dynamics of Institutions and Markets in Europe)
Policy Implications from Recent Advances in the Economics of Innovation and Industrial Dynamics

Contact

Prof Mariana Mazzucato, mariana.mazzucato@open.ac.uk