This paper extends the standard Hotelling model with quadratic transport costs to the multi-firm case. Considering locational equilibria we show that neither holds the Principle of Maximum Differentiation - as in the duopoly model - nor does the Principle of Minimum Differentiation - as in the...

This paper examines the determinants of young innovative companies’ (YICs) R&D activitiestaking into account the autoregressive nature of innovation. Using a large longitudinal datasetcomprising Spanish manufacturing firms over the period 1990-2008, we find that previousR&D experience is a...

The UK’s business R&D (BERD) to GDP ratio is low compared to other leading economies,and the ratio has slowly declined over the 1990s. This paper uses data on large UK firms toanalyse the link between R&D and productivity over the 1989-2000 period. Using aproduction function approach, and a...

The Leicester Business School Occasional Papers reflect the scholarship and research of staff, postgraduates and others associated with the school. Many of the papers take the form of preliminary reports of research in progress or explorations of theoretical ideas. Publication of such work in...

In this paper, we open up the black box that has been the introduction of open practices into firms’ commercial R&D strategies. Most of the existing research on the phenomenon of open innovation focuses on its interorganizational aspects. In contrast, the effect that the opening of boundaries...

This paper uses confidential microdata from the Census of Services to examine lawfirms' field boundaries. We find that the share of lawyers working in field-specializedfirms increases as market size increases and lawyers field-specialize, indicating thattransaction costs among lawyers, and not...

An organization will often use a specialized technical language that is un-derstood by its members but not by others. We develop a theory of optimalorganizational languages and identify a key trade-o¤ between facilitatinginternal communication and encouraging communication with other...

A large theoretical literature focuses on the question: What determines firms’ boundaries?Recently, Garicano and Santos and Holmstrom and Milgrom have proposed theories in whichfirms’ boundaries reflect the division of labor across individuals. This paper discussesstrategies for generating...

Empirical studies on information communication technologies (ICT) typically aggregate the“information” and “communication” components together. We show theoretically and empirically thatthese have very different effects on the empowerment of employees, and by extension on wageinequality....

This paper examines the idea that the formulation of internal and external relationships, at astrategic level in organisations, is central to the successful implementation of corporateentrepreneurship. It considers external and internal relationships and the dichotomy betweeninternally...