Internationalization of biotechnology start-ups: Geographic location and mimetic behaviour
研究了美国生物技术初创企业位于地理集群中是否影响其国际联盟的形成，发现集群本身不直接增加联盟概率，而是集群内的模仿行为驱动国际化。
The objective of this article is to understand the extent to which location in a geographic cluster can explain international alliance formation. Geographic clusters are characterized by several dimensions: agglomeration economies, institutional forces and a manager’s mental models create the environment within the cluster. Therefore, to develop the research propositions, which were tested on a sample of US biotechnology start-ups, the study specifically analysed cluster size and firm competitive behaviour within the cluster to explain the propensity of a start-up to engage in new international alliances. It also examined the potential moderating effect of cluster evolution. Results show that merely being located in a geographic cluster in itself does not increase the probability of forming a new international alliance. Within clusters, internationalization of start-ups through alliance formation results mainly from mimetic behaviour.