The connected firm: The spatial dimension of interorganizational dependence along the industry life cycle

Abstract

The high-tech industry in Silicon Valley, automobile production in Detroit, and financial services in New York and London are just a few examples of industries that are spatially concentrated. This phenomenon has attracted interest from a wide range of social scientists and regional and national policymakers.This dissertation seeks to understand the processes that are responsible for generating such unequal spatial patterns and it does so by quantitatively unraveling the historical, industrial dynamics of the global video game industry. Contrary to commonly studied industries such as automobile production, the video game industry heavily relies on human capital as the main source of production. Through the analysis of the processes of competition and collaboration in this industry it is shown that the spatial organization of the video game industry is best understood as an outcome of a historical trajectory that features changes in the nature of competition and collaboration among and between firms in the industry. It is through the competitive and collaborative interaction of firms that the conditions that attract entrepreneurial activity and enhance the survival chances of firms become spatially scarcer in some regions than others.