Heterogeneity and divergence in local innovation systems. Some empirical evidence from Argentinean SMEs

VERÓNICA ROBERT

Ankara

Congreso; Globelics; 2013

Two of the most common characteristics of capitalist production structures are the heterogeneity of productive performance at the firm level and the divergence in the productive performance of local innovation  systems.  In  this  paper,  I  address this  characteristic of  productive  systems  by estimating the presence of externalities  within reference groups that are made up of firms from the same sector and geographical area in a balanced panel of 1200 Argentinean SMEs. I propose a  social  interactions  model  (Schelling,  1971;  Durlauf,  1993,  2003  and  2005;  Glaeser  and Sheikman, 2001) where the productivity of each firm will depend on that of the reference group discarding  its  own  productive  performance.  Considering  the  presence  of  heterogeneity  inside local  systems,  I  estimate  the  different  impact  of  these  externalities  on  firms  with different capabilities  and  linkages.  On  the  other  hand,  taking  into  account  divergence  between local systems, I  estimate the presence of a social multiplier (Glaeser  et al,  2003), derived from systemic interactions which lead to an amplification of individual responses and therefore the divergence between systems.