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Abstract
Mayer H. Entrepreneurship in a hub-and-spoke industrial district: firm survey evidence from Seattle's technology industry, Regional Studies. The paper investigates entrepreneurial dynamics in a hub-and-spoke industrial district. Using data on the genealogy of high-technology firms in Seattle, Washington State, the study examines the ways in which entrepreneurial firms relate to their parent firms and the role of agglomeration economies. The results illustrate that entrepreneurship is an important vehicle for the diversification of such a district. When compared, hub-related spinoffs such as those founded by former Microsoft employees do not differ much from other start-ups. The differences between Microsoft spinoffs and start-ups are very limited; both diversify the regional economy by entering new markets when compared with their parents.
Mayer H. 轴幅式工业区中的创业精神：西雅图科技产业的厂商调查证据，区域研究。本文探讨轴幅式工业区中的创业动态。本研究运用华盛顿西雅图高科技厂商的系谱资料，检视创业厂商连结至母公司的方式，以及聚集经济所扮演的角色。研究结果显示，创业精神是该工业区多样化的重要推力。若相互比较时，与核心有关的子母公司分拆，例如微软旧员工所创立的分拆，则与其他新创企业相距并不远。微软的子母公司分拆，与新创企业的差异相当有限；两者与其母公司相较而言，皆透过进入新市场来多样化区域经济。
Mayer H. L'esprit d'entreprise dans un district industriel en forme d’étoile: des données auprès des entreprises de l'industrie technologique située à Seattle, Regional Studies. L'article examine la dynamique entrepreneuriale d'un distruct industriel en forme d’étoile. À partir des données sur la généalogie des entreprises de l'industrie de la haute technologie dans Seattle, à Washington, l’étude examine les façons dont les entreprises entrepreneuriales se rapportent à leurs sociétés-mères et le rôle des économies d'agglomération. Les résultats démontrent que l'esprit d'entreprise constitue un outil important quant à la diversification d'un tel district. À la suite d'une comparaison, les retombées, telles que celles lancées par des anciens travailleurs de Microsoft, ne diffèrent pas beaucoup des autres démarrages. Les différences entre les retombées et les démarrages de Microsoft sont limitées; toutes les deux diversifient l’économie régionale en s'implantant sur de nouveaux marchés par rapport à leurs sociétés-mères.
Mayer H. Unternehmertum in einem Industriebezirk mit Naben- und Speichenaufbau: Belege aus Erhebungen unter Firmen in der Hightech-Branche von Seattle, Regional Studies. In diesem Beitrag wird die unternehmerische Dynamik in einem Industriebezirk mit Naben- und Speichenaufbau untersucht. Anhand von Daten über die Genealogie von Hightech-Unternehmen in Seattle (Washington, USA) wird in der Studie erörtert, welche Beziehungen unternehmerische Firmen zu ihren Mutterfirmen haben und welche Rolle Agglomerationsökonomien in diesem Zusammenhang spielen. Aus den Ergebnissen geht hervor, dass das Unternehmertum in einem solchen Bezirk ein wichtiges Instrument der Diversifizierung darstellt. Bei einem Vergleich zeigt sich, dass sich Naben-Spin-offs wie z. B. die von ehemaligen Microsoft-Angestellten gegründeten Firmen nicht stark von anderen Start-ups unterscheiden. Die Unterschiede zwischen Microsoft-Spin-offs und Start-ups fallen äußerst begrenzt aus; beide diversifizieren die regionale Wirtschaft durch die Erschließung von im Vergleich zu ihren Eltern neuen Märkten.
Mayer H. Espíritu empresarial en un distrito industrial con estructura radial: evidencia de un estudio entre empresas de la industria tecnológica de Seattle, Regional Studies. En este artículo se analizan las dinámicas empresariales en un distrito industrial con estructura radial. A partir de datos sobre la genealogía de las empresas de alta tecnología en Seattle, Washington, EE.UU., en este estudio se examina el modo en que las empresas emprendedoras se relacionan con sus empresas matrices y la función de las economías de aglomeración. Los resultados ilustran que el espíritu empresarial es un vehículo importante para la diversificación de este tipo de distritos. Cuando se comparan, se observa que las empresas derivadas del centro, tales como las fundadas por los antiguos empleados de Microsoft, no se diferencian mucho de otras empresas emergentes. Las diferencias entre las empresas derivadas de Microsoft y las empresas emergentes son muy limitadas; ambas diversifican la economía regional al introducirse en nuevos mercados en comparación con sus filiales.
Acknowledgement
The author would like to thank The Washington Technology Industry Association (WTIA) for its helpful support with the firm survey. Paul Sommers from Seattle University provided helpful support during the data-collection phase. The paper was significantly improved because of the constructive insights of the reviewers and editors.
Notes
1 In this paper, spinoffs are defined as those firms that were started by former employees of the hub firm, while start-ups are firms that were started by employees who did not work for the hub firm and either worked in the same industry or in other industries. This definition is slightly different from the literature (see also Klepper, 2001b; Dahl et al., Citation2010, etc.). For a more detailed discussion of this, see the methodology section.
2 For example, Gray et al. (Citation1996) describe Boeing as an unsupportive hub firm. The aerospace company did not purchase from firms that were started by former employees during the spinoff's first five years of existence. Microsoft, in contrast, did not have such a policy even though the software giant did not actively encourage cooperation and networking with local firms. In this study the focus is on Microsoft as the hub and the analysis does not include a comparison with other regional hub firms.
3 This is a similar perspective as Jacobs, who argued that breakaways imitate their parent organizations and only later develop new products and ideas (Jacobs, Citation1969).
4 The survey was opened on 28 January 2008 and closed on 24 March 2008.
5 Gray et al. (Citation1996) adopted Markusen’s (1994) studying regions by studying firms’ approach and conducted about forty-two interviews. In addition, they conducted a mail survey, which only generated twenty-four responses (Gray et al., Citation1996, n. 1). Haug (Citation1991a, Citation1991b) conducted a mail survey of high-technology firms in Washington State. His state-wide survey gathered information on 363 firms, a response rate of 38.5%.
6 For example, Klepper (Citation2002) examines the evolution of the US automobile industry and distinguishes experienced firms (those that diversified into the automobile industry from other industries) from experienced entrepreneurs (firms that were founded by individuals who headed a firm in another industry), spinoffs (one or more founders of these firms previously worked for the automobile industry), and inexperienced firms (as a remaining category.
7 The analysis of the survey responses did not include those from branch plants as they may automatically have a strong relationship to their parent firm even though parent firm is conceptualized here very different.
8 This study is characterized by a lack of statistical significance of the differences between start-ups and Microsoft spinoffs. This could be the result of the few observations combined with a large set of answer categories. When N is small, the results can be fragile and not very generalizable. However, since few studies have collected primary data on the nature of knowledge spillovers between parent firms and their spinoffs, the results can help one characterize the ways in which entrepreneurs use business practices, knowledge, etc. which they learned at their previous employer(s).
9 Respondents were asked to rate the importance of each location attribute on a Likert scale as follows: Completely unimportant (1), Somewhat unimportant (2), Neither unimportant nor important (3), Somewhat important (4), and Extremely important (5).
10 The author owes this idea for further research to an anonymous reviewer, who is thanked for this insightful and constructive comment.