Ties that Spatially Bind? A Relational Account of the Causes of Spatial Firm Mobility

Abstract

The existing literature on the spatial mobility of firms completely neglects the existence of inter-organizational relations (IORs). This is striking since there is a strong theoretical argument in the literature that firms with a high level of embeddedness in (localized) IORs are very unlikely to relocate. Therefore, the following research question is posed: “To what extent is the level of embeddedness of firms in (localized) innovative inter-organizational relationships of influence on their propensity to relocate?” Based on data from the automation service sector, an ordered logit model is estimated. The results of this analysis show that embeddedness plays an important role as a determinant of the spatial behavior of firms. More specifically, there is a strong spatial lock-in effect of having a high degree centrality

Embeddedness estrutural e espacial em redes estratégicas: efeitos atitudinais no nível das díades

“…Entretanto, nenhum desses mecanismos ou dimensões considera mais detidamente características não sociais ou de ordem física (não humana) no primeiro plano, que também condicionam a interação e seus consequentes, como faz o grau de proximidade ou distância espacial entre os agentes de uma rede. De fato, são recentes as investigações que se debruçam sobre a imersão espacial (spatial embeddedness) e seus efeitos em organizações e redes (Amin & Cohendet, 2005;Carmichael & Herod, 2012;Giuliani, 2007;Knoben & Oerlemans, 2008;Lutz, Bender, Achleitner, & Kaserer, 2013;Nicholson, Tsagdis, & Brennan, 2013).…”

Why Firms Relocate Their Production Overseas? The Answer Lies Inside: Corporate, Logistic and Technological Determinants

“…More specifically in the case of relocation, there is evidence that relates market proximity locationlinked to transport costs -and mobility of the activity (Holl, 2004;Brower et al, 2004;Knoben and Oerlemans, 2008). However, in many sectors today lean supply or JIT purchasing have become standards for the way in which the supply chain is organised (Lamming, 1996;Cox, 2001;Bruce et al, 2004;Alonso et.…”

“…Studies based on this theory use an analytical model involving three types of factors: external factors related to the environment in each region or country, location factors relating to the physical place where the firm carries out its activity, and intra-corporate factors of each individual firm (Table 1). Sleuwaegen and Pennings, 2006 Geographical location of market Brower et al, 2004;Artís et al, 2007;Knoben and Oerlemans, 2008 Location Local agglomeration factors Holl, 2004;Lee, 2006 Economic development Van Dijk andPellenbarg, 2000 Infrastructure Holl, 2004 Internal Growth or expansion of the enterprise Chan et al, 1995;Hayter, 1997;Van Vilsteren and Wever, 1999;Brower et al, 2004 Technology transfer Pennings andSleuwaegen, 2000 While all factors can be relevant, studies linking relocation to environment factors are valid as long as they focus the problem on the comparative advantages of different regions or countries, mainly in terms of costs. However, we consider that such factors on their own do not help to explain the mechanisms that determine corporate relocation decisions.…”

“…These have given rise to various analytical models that include location, external and internal factors for explaining relocation (Lloyd and Dicken, 1992;Van Dijk and Pellenbarg, 2000;Brower et al, 2004;Holl, 2004;Knoben and Oerlemans, 2008). Although these contributions have allowed us to find out more about the motivations for, and facilitators of, international relocation of production, they suffer from two main shortcomings.…”

Explaining Mixed Results on Science Parks Performance: Bright and Dark Sides of the Effects of Inter-Organisational Knowledge Transfer Relationships

“…In the literature, this closeness between organisational actors is also known as the 'proximity' concept -"being close to something measured on a certain dimension" [49]. Scholars distinguish various dimensions of proximity, and most of the time their definitions overlap.…”