National institutions, public–private knowledge flows, and innovation performance: A comparative study of the biotechnology industry in the US and France

The biotechnology industry is a striking example of the disconnect between the location of knowledge creation and its commercial development. I argue that national technological performance in biotechnology is critically affected by institutions governing scientific careers, which shape the professional identities and boundary-spanning activities of research scientists. I test this in a comparison of the United States and France. Drawing on fieldwork and analysis of patent data, I compare institutional frameworks and estimate models of forward patent citations. The models show that entrepreneurial firms are associated with high-performing innovations in this sector whereas large established firms perform poorly in both countries, and highlight the importance of institutions in creating country-specific combinations of human capital with organizational capabilities.