Incubating High-Technology Firms: State Economic Development Strategies for Biotechnology

Abstract

State economic development agencies are engaged in a variety of efforts to increase the capacity of the state to attract or create new biotechnology firms. Some states have established well-endowed organizations dedicated to promoting biotechnology, whereas others have adopted more modest programs or have incorporated biotechnology issues into other policy areas, such as education or agriculture. Despite the range of organizational forms and purposes, there is evidence of a common paradigm, "the incubator model " being used by state policymakers with respect to biotechnological economic development activity. The thrust of this strategy is to create a set of conditions that will nurture technological innovation and the formation of indigenous firms. The incubator model provides a coherent conceptual framework for policy makers to pursue a slate of recognizable programs. Changes in the structure of commercial biotechnology, particularly increasing fragmentation and externalization of productive relations, suggest that the local resources identified as the incubation base may provide regions with a competitive edge.