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Determinants of Innovative Activity in Newly Founded Knowledge Intensive Business Service Firms

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Abstract

Innovative activity is performed to a considerable extent in the service sector, namely within the socalled knowledge intensive business services (KIBS). Nevertheless, little is known about the determinants of innovative activity in these firms. In the present paper, some of these determinants are examined on the basis of a recently created dataset of 547 newly founded German firms (KIBS Foundation Survey 2003). The results show that the access to knowledge through cooperation and networking is an important factor determining innovative activity in the KIBS sector, whereas, surprisingly, neither managerial characteristics nor spatial proximity have general influence.

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  • Harald Strotmann & Andreas Koch, 2005. "Determinants of Innovative Activity in Newly Founded Knowledge Intensive Business Service Firms," IAW Discussion Papers 21, Institut für Angewandte Wirtschaftsforschung (IAW).
    • Handle: RePEc:iaw:iawdip:21
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    Cited by:

    1. Meyer, Jenny, 2007. "Older Workers and the Adoption of New Technologies," ZEW Discussion Papers 07-050, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    2. Jenny Meyer, 2011. "Workforce age and technology adoption in small and medium-sized service firms," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 37(3), pages 305-324, October.
    3. Skuras, Dimitris & Tsegenidi, Kyriaki & Tsekouras, Kostas, 2008. "Product innovation and the decision to invest in fixed capital assets: Evidence from an SME survey in six European Union member states," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(10), pages 1778-1789, December.
    4. Jenny Meyer, 2010. "Does Social Software Support Service Innovation?," International Journal of the Economics of Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(3), pages 289-311.
    5. Meyer, Jenny, 2008. "The Adoption of New Technologies and the Age Structure of the Workforce," ZEW Discussion Papers 08-045, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
    • L89 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Other
    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives

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