Properties of knowledge base and firm survival: Evidence from a sample of French manufacturing firms

Alessandra Colombelli, Jackie Krafft and Francesco Quatraro

Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 2013, vol. 80, issue 8, 1469-1483

Abstract: The paper analyzes the effects of the properties of firms' knowledge base on the survival likelihood of firms. Drawing upon the analysis of the patterns of co-occurrence of technological classes in patent applications, we derive the coherence, variety and cognitive distance indexes, accounting respectively for technological complementarity, differentiation and dissimilarity in the firms' patent portfolios. The results of our analysis are in line with the previous literature, showing that innovation enhances the survival likelihood of firms. In addition, we show that the search strategies at work in the development of firms' knowledge base matter in reducing the likelihood of a failure event. Knowledge coherence and variety appear to be positively related to firms' survival, while cognitive distance exerts a negative effect. We conclude that firms able to exploit the accumulated technological competences have more chances to be successful in competing durably in the market arena, and derive some policy implications concerning the role of public intervention in the orientation of search efforts in local contexts.

Keywords: Knowledge coherence; Variety; Cognitive distance; Firms' survival (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L10 L20 O32 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (65)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Properties of knowledge base and firm survival: Evidence from a sample of French manufacturing firms (2013)
Working Paper: Properties of knowledge base and firm survival: Evidence from a sample of French manufacturing firms (2013)
Working Paper: Properties of knowledge base and firm survival: Evidence from a sample of French manufacturing firms (2012)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:tefoso:v:80:y:2013:i:8:p:1469-1483

DOI: 10.1016/j.techfore.2013.03.003

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