WHERE ARE THE BIG GORILLAS?

HIGH TECHNOLOGY ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN THE UK
AND THE ROLE OF PUBLIC POLICY

Geoffrey Owen

This paper was written as a concluding contribution to the Entrepreneurship and Public Policy Project organised by the Diebold Institute for Public Policy Studies. It draws on papers produced as part of this project (available at www.dieboldinstitute.org/papers.htm), and on the discussions that took place at the Diebold Conference on Entrepreneurship, held in London in April 2004 (www.diebold-conference.co.uk). The author is grateful for helpful comments from David Cooksey, Elizabeth Garnsey, David Hart, Richard Holway, Colin Mason and Nicholas Owen.

ABSTRACT

Since the 1980s successive British governments have sought to promote entrepreneurial activity in high-technology industries, using the example of the US as a guide to policy changes and institutional reforms. Drawing on the experience of two industries, electronics and biotechnology, this paper shows that these policies have been successful in increasing the number of high-technology start-ups. However, one feature of the US scene – technology-based firms which grow very fast from start-up into major international enterprises – has been largely missing in the UK. The paper discusses the possible reasons for this gap, including the difficulties faced by all European companies in US-dominated industries. It suggests that the scarcity of British-owned ‘big gorillas’ in high technology is not due to distinctively British institutional or managerial weaknesses, and should not be regarded as a failure of entrepreneurship policy.

CONTENTS

  1. INTRODUCTION
  2. THE US EXAMPLE: WHAT DID GOVERNMENT CONTRIBUTE?
  3. THE EMERGENCE OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP POLICY IN THE UK
  4. ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
  5. ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN BIOTECHNOLOGY
  6. CONCLUSION

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