Product sophistication, industrial organisation, and location: the UK pharmaceutical industry

In this paper are presented the results of an analysis of the location and organisation of product innovation and sophistication in the UK pharmaceutical industry. Significant spatial variations in plant product technological sophistication were identified on an urban-size basis, with factories located in smaller urban centres less likely to be of low-technology status. In terms of nonspatial factors it was the organisational characteristics of the companies, rather than the plants themselves, that were influential in determining product sophistication. The importance of the spatially dispersed nature of manufacturing by large, often foreign, firms was confirmed as having an important role in the pattern of plant product sophistication within the UK pharmaceutical industry.