The Absorptive Capacity of Non-R&D-Intensive Firms

Oliver Som (), Eva Kirner and Angela Jäger
Additional contact information
Oliver Som: Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI
Eva Kirner: Furtwangen University (FHU)
Angela Jäger: Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI

Chapter Chapter 9 in Low-tech Innovation, 2015, pp 145-164 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract This chapter analyses and compares different dimensions of non-R&D-intensive and very R&D-intensive manufacturing firms’ absorptive capacity (AC). The empirical analysis is based on firm level data obtained by a telephone survey in early 2010 among more than 200 non-R&D-intensive firms and 88 firms with a high R&D-intensity in the German manufacturing industry. The results show that there is surprisingly little difference in the level of AC between R&D-intensive and non-R&D-intensive firms – if the firm specific relevance of such external impulses is being taken into consideration. This is a surprising finding in so far, as it indicates that R&D intensity might not be a limiting factor for firm’s ability to recognize and implement scientific knowledge per se. Thereby, the findings presented in this chapter underline the necessity to further improve and supplement the measurement concept of firms’ AC beyond their mere R&D intensity by taking into account the strategic importance of different types of external knowledge.

Keywords: Firm Size; Absorptive Capacity; External Knowledge; Organisational Innovation; Strategic Importance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:sprchp:978-3-319-09973-6_9

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/9783319099736

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-09973-6_9

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Springer Books from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().