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Castellacci & Fevolden 2014). Thus, larger firms with longer operational histories enjoy higher levels of
legitimacy by being able to show a larger set of previous experiences, and have access to more
resources. We expect that access to international markets is larger for large firms than for small firms.
The second factor is the presence of related industries. We define relatedness as instances where two
or more industries share, or there is an overlap between, actors, knowledge and technology (Bergek
et al. 2008). In the absence of domestic market opportunities, RE firms may benefit from own activities,
or other firms, in related industries, for instance by sharing activities in technology development,
manufacturing, or marketing. In this way firms gain access to opportunities normally provided by a
home market. This is a question of how new industries can emerge from old. A main mechanism in this
process is that of branching, whereby firms switch to other albeit
related
industries (Boschma &
Frenken 2011; Martin & Sunley 2010; Neffke et al. 2011). Moreover, Hanson et al. (2015) show how
related industries can provide a range of complementary resources (knowledge, infrastructures,
human and financial capital) for emerging industries.
The third factor concerns the maturity of the RE industry. The importance of geographical proximity in
some instances is likely to be greater for nascent industries. When a technology moves into a mass
market phase, actors in regions without local markets may be able to sell their products to markets in
other countries more easily (Binz et al. 2014). Thus, the importance of a home market depends on the
level of maturity of the technology (Fagerberg 1992, p. 271).
In sum, the overall process of industry building is related to a number of important processes. While
these processes can be seen to develop globally, the extent of how firms that lack sufficient home
markets can link up with these global developments depends amongst others on firm size, maturity
and presence of related industries.
3
Methods and data
Data for this report is almost entirely based on a survey executed in February 2015. Unless otherwise
indicated, data is based on this survey. The sample for the survey was drawn from industry reports,
membership of industry organisations, and desk research. The criteria for inclusion in the sample was
that the firm had to be located in Norway, and that the firm had delivered, or had ambitions to deliver,
products or services to either solar PV or offshore wind industries. The sample includes companies that
develop and operate PV and OWP projects. Some of these companies will also be owners. However,
we have not included companies that are only associated with these industries through power
production. We refer to all surveyed firms engaged in offshore wind as offshore wind firms, even if