In England, publicly supported advice to small firms is organized primarily through the Business Link (BL) network. Using the programme theory underlying this business support, we develop four propositions and test these empirically using data from a new survey of over 3000 English SMEs. We find...

In this paper, we explore the relationship between aspects of firms' potential absorptive capacity (PACAP) on their involvement in exploratory alliances. Our study is based on survey data from firms in the US and European (the UK, Germany, France and Ireland) biopharmaceutical sectors. We use...

This paper contributes to the developing literature on complementarities in organizational design. We test for the existence of complementarities in the use of external networking between stages of the innovation process in a sample of UK and German manufacturing plants. Our evidence suggests...

Globally the biopharmaceutical industry is characterized by strong competition, research-intensive and protracted new product development (NPD) processes, intensive regulation and extensive alliance activity. Policy regimes and operating environments differ markedly, however. Here we examine how...

Recent thinking on open innovation and the knowledge-based economy have stressed the importance of external knowledge sources in stimulating innovation. Policy-makers have recognised this, establishing publicly funded Centres of R&D Excellence with the objective of stimulating industry-science...

Recent studies in the tradition of Schmookler have re-emphasised the potential role of demand in stimulating innovation. Here, we reconsider the role of 'home' and 'export' market demand in stimulating manufacturing innovation using comparable panel data for two small open economies - Ireland...

Although accessing finance is key to the foundation of any business, particular concerns have been expressed about the ability of UK women-owned firms to obtain external failure. In this article we use an econometric approach to explore the effect of perceptions of financial barriers to start-up...

Evidence on the persistence of innovation sheds light on the nature of the innovation process and can guide appropriate policy development. This paper examines innovation persistence in Ireland and Northern Ireland using complementary quantitative and case-study approaches. Panel data derived...