Publications

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November 2014
Article

The Global Agglomeration of Multinational Firms

By: Laura Alfaro and Maggie Xiaoyang Chen

The explosion of multinational activities in recent decades is rapidly transforming the global landscape of industrial production. But are the emerging clusters of multinational production the rule or the exception? What drives the offshore agglomeration of... View Details

Keywords: Agglomeration; Agglomeration Economies; Multinational Firms and Management; Manufacturing Industry

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June 2008
Article

Decomposability in Knowledge Structures and Its Impact on the Usefulness of Inventions and Knowledge-base Malleability

By: Sai Yayavaram and Gautam Ahuja

We use patent data from the worldwide semiconductor industry from 1984 to 1994 to study the effect of the structure of organizational knowledge bases, or the patterns of coupling between their elements of technical knowledge, on the usefulness of inventions and... View Details

Keywords: Patents; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Semiconductor Industry

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Research Summary

A History of Green Entrepreneurship

By: Geoffrey G. Jones

This research recovers the history of the entrepreneurs and firms who developed green or “sustainable” businesses, identifies the multiple motivations behind their strategies, explores the clustering of green business in specific locations, and shows how the concept of... View Details

2010
Chapter

Política de clústers: guia per a l'Estat del Debat (Cluster Policy: The State of the Debate)

By: Christian H.M. Ketels

The chapter provides an overview of the recent literature discussing the pros and cons of cluster policy View Details

Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Policy; Body of Literature; Industry Clusters

May 2011 (Revised March 2013)
Background Note

Location Choice for New Ventures: Cities

By: William R. Kerr and Ramana Nanda

Location choice is a critical decision for entrepreneurs. This note explores how entrepreneurs should think about different city options through a systematic framework that encompasses professional and personal issues. We use the intellectual frameworks of the cluster... View Details

Keywords: City; Business Startups

March 2011 (Revised May 2012)
Case

Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park Development Co., Ltd.

By: Robert G. Eccles, Catherine Zhang, Cheng-hua Tzeng, Liang Cheng and Penelope Rossano

This case is about the establishment, growth, and direction of the Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park ("Zhangjiang Park"), which is located in the Pudong New Area of Shanghai. Considered to be one of the most competitive hi-tech industry clusters in China, the combined... View Details

Keywords: Industry Clusters; Information Technology; Capital Markets; Urban Development; Buildings and Facilities; Competition; Business Strategy; Governing and Advisory Boards; Technology Industry; Technology Industry; Shanghai

13 Nov 2012
First Look

First Look: November 13

Chen Abstract The explosion of multinational activities in recent decades is rapidly transforming the global landscape of industrial production. But are the emerging clusters of multinational production the... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

2010
Other Unpublished Work

Spitzencluster in der globalen Innovationslandschaft

By: Christian H.M. Ketels

Discussion of the German "Spitzencluster-Wettbewerb" (Excellence cluster competition) in the context of changes in the global market for innovation View Details

Keywords: Globalized Markets and Industries; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Independent Innovation and Invention; Competitive Strategy

January 2009 (Revised October 2012)
Case

Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation: 'Reverse BOT'

By: Willy Shih

Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) is executing a strategy that leverages the desires of municipalities in China to build clusters of high technology companies. By partnering with those cities to build new semiconductor fabs that SMIC would... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Industry Clusters; Infrastructure; State Ownership; Business and Community Relations; Semiconductor Industry; China

23 Mar 2015
News

President Obama to Announce New Steps to Attract Foreign Investors and Create Jobs through the Continued Expansion of the SelectUSA Initiative

Michael E. Porter

Michael Porter is an economist, researcher, author, advisor, speaker and teacher. Throughout his career at Harvard Business School, he has brought economic theory and strategy concepts to bear on many of the most challenging problems facing corporations, economies... View Details

Keywords: e-commerce industry; e-commerce industry; e-commerce industry; e-commerce industry; e-commerce industry; e-commerce industry; e-commerce industry; e-commerce industry; e-commerce industry

February 2003 (Revised March 2006)
Case

Asociacion Colombiana de Industrias Plasticas (Acoplasticos)

By: Michael E. Porter and Willis M. Emmons III

Acoplasticos was established in 1961 as a lobbying group for Colombia's major plastics manufacturing companies. In the early 1980s, the organization shifted its focus toward improving the productivity of the Colombian plastics and rubber cluster, which also included... View Details

Keywords: Cooperation; Information Technology; Alliances; Research and Development; Business and Government Relations; Performance Productivity; Developing Countries and Economies; Manufacturing Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Colombia

11 Mar 2014
Other Presentation

The Looming Challenge of U.S. Competitiveness

By: Michael E. Porter

Professor Porter evaluated US competitiveness and its implications for Philadelphia. Host Dr. Mercedes Delgado, Assistant Professor of Strategic Management within the Fox School of Business, is a co-researcher on Professor Porter's work on innovation clusters and... View Details

Keywords: Competitiveness; U.S. Competitiveness; Competition; Development Economics; Industry Clusters; Innovation and Invention; Philadelphia; United States

November 2011 (Revised February 2012)
Case

Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul: Building on a Diversified Base

By: William W. George

Since the 1970s, the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan region (MSP) had outpaced the nation in job creation and income per capita. MSP's diversified base of industry clusters had enabled the region to adapt to economic downturns and an exodus of major corporate... View Details

Keywords: Industry Clusters; Employment; Organizations; Transformation; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Minneapolis; Saint Paul

2025
Working Paper

The Extent and Drivers of Internal Agglomeration of U.S. Multi-Unit Firms

By: Juan Alcácer and Jasmina Chauvin

This paper examines the extent and determinants of internal agglomeration—the spatial clustering of establishments within firms. It introduces a novel methodology that benchmarks a firm’s spatial footprint against that of comparable stand-alone firms, yielding a... View Details

Keywords: Multi-unit Firms; Agglomeration; Spatial Organization; Economies Of Scope; Organizational Design; Diversification; Corporate Strategy; Business Units