European SMEs, external relationships and innovation: some empirical evidence

Andrea Lasagni

No 2011-EP04, Economics Department Working Papers from Department of Economics, Parma University (Italy)

Abstract: This paper investigates the role of external relationships as key drivers of small business innovation. An empirical analysis is based on data for approximately 500 small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in six European countries. The results indicate that innovation performance is higher in SMEs that are proactive in strengthening their relationships with innovative suppliers, users and customers. Furthermore, the findings of this paper support the view that SMEs will have better new product development results if they improve their relationships with laboratories and research institutes.

Keywords: : SMEs; open innovation; networks; external relationships (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L60 O31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 41 pages
Date: 2011
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cse, nep-ent, nep-eur, nep-ino, nep-knm and nep-sbm
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:par:dipeco:2011-ep04

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