The Organization of Industry Filieres in the Flow Measurement and Electronic Component Industries

Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to provide the background to the empirical evidence in Chapters 5 and 7 on the factors which influence the conditions under which firms in the two study sectors interact with universities and national laboratories. The first section discusses general factors which other studies have found to be important in firms’ propensity to acquire externally developed technology. The second describes the main features of the two study sectors in each country. The final section draws these two strands together to summarize which factors would be likely to influence firms’ Participation in networking, collaboration and externalization activities with the PSSB.