Between Promise and Performance: Science and Technology Policy Implementation through Network Governance

TL;DR

This paper examines how U.S. science and technology policy, exemplified by Sematech, influenced organizational networks and technological performance in the semiconductor industry using network analysis and regression over 15 years.

Contribution

It reinterprets Sematech as a network governance organization and empirically tests its impact on firm performance and network position from 1986 to 2001.

Findings

Sematech lowered cooperation costs among firms.

Participation in Sematech improved firms' technological performance.

Government-led network governance can enhance innovation outcomes.

Abstract

This research analyzes the effects of U.S. science and technology policy on the technological performance of organizations in a global strategic alliance network. During the mid-1980s the U.S. semiconductor industry appeared to be collapsing. Industry leaders and policymakers moved to support and protect U.S. firms by creating a program called Sematech. While many scholars regard Sematech as a success, how the program succeeded remains unclear. This study re-contextualizes Sematech as a network administrative organization which lowered cooperation costs and enhanced resource combination for innovation at the cutting edge. This study combines network analysis and longitudinal regression techniques to test the effects of public policy on organizational network position and technological performance in an unbalanced panel of semiconductor firms between 1986 and 2001. This research suggests governments might achieve policy through inter-organizational innovations aimed at the development and administration of robust governance networks.