Advisor: Dr. Kirk Bowman
Committee: Dr. Kirk S. BowmanJon R. Wilcox Term Professor inSoccer, Global Politics, and SocietySam Nunn School of International AffairsGeorgia Institute of Technology Dr. Dan BreznitzSam Nunn School of International AffairsGeorgia Institute of TechnologyMunk Chair of Innovation StudiesMunk School of Global AffairsUniversity of Toronto Dr. Alasdair YoungAssociate Professor and Jean Monnet ChairSam Nunn School of International AffairsGeorgia Institute of Technology Dr. Steven CasperDean of the School of Applied Life SciencesHenry E. Riggs Professor of ManagementKeck Graduate Institute Dr. Elisabeth B. ReynoldsExecutive DirectorIndustrial Performance CenterMassachusetts Institute of Technology Time: 9:30AMDate: Monday, 30 March 2015Location: Ivan Allen College 136
Title: "Constructing Knowledge-based Industries in the Globalization Era:
Social Learning, the Political Process and Institutional Change"
Abstract:
Countries including Australia, Canada and the United States have been promoting knowledge-based
industries, especially those requiring a significant scientific base like
bioscience, as engines of economic growth. This dissertation compares changes
in finance, skill development and corporate governance institutions, all of
which are critical to the bioscience industry, as part of countries’ strategic
responses to global technological and economic shocks. Because regions within
countries increasingly design their own economic institutions, this research also
compares the industrialized provinces of Quebec and Ontario as well as the Atlantic
Canadian provinces of New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and Prince
Edward Island and their aspiring bioscience industries. Two factors help
explain institutional change and the different configurations: degree of social
learning – disruptive or incremental, and, type of iterative bargaining –
coordinative or fragmented. These variables in turn are impacted by the presence
and type of knowledge-oriented policy community. Within each case I examine the
mechanisms through which the social learning and iterative bargaining process
occurs in response to two global shocks: the 1980s discovery and use of rDNA
techniques as well as the 2008 global financial crisis. Research reveals a
diversity of institutional configurations over time representing high, mixed or
low levels of commitment.
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