Spatial organization of firms and location choices through the value chain
By: Juan Alcacer, Mercedes Delgado
Contributors: Delgado, Mercedes; Harvard Business School
Series: Working paper / Harvard Business School -- 13-025; Working paper (Harvard Business School) -- 13-025
Publisher: Harvard Business School
Published: 2013
Place of publication: Boston]
Language: eng
Number of pages: 31
Work titles: Spatial organization of firms
Description: We explore the impact of geographically bounded, intra-firm linkages (internal agglomerations) and geographically bounded, inter-firm linkages (external agglomerations) on firms' location strategies. Using data from the Census Bureau's Longitudinal Business Database, we analyze the locations of new establishments of biopharmaceutical firms in the U.S. in 1993-2005. We consider all activities in the value chain and allow location choices to vary by R&D, manufacturing, and sales. Our findings suggest that internal agglomerations have a positive impact on location. The effects of internal agglomerations vary by activity, and they arise both within an activity (e.g. among plants) and across activities (e.g. between sales and manufacturing). Our results also suggest that previous estimates of the effect of external agglomerations may be overestimated because the existing literature abstracted from internal agglomerations.
Notes: "August 2012. (Revised August 2013.)" -- Publisher's website.

Revision of Spatial organization of firms: internal and external agglomeration economies and location choices through the value chain.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 24-26).