The types and intensity of innovation in developing-country SMEs: evidences from a Nigerian sub-sectoral study

Abiodun Egbetokun, A Adeniyi, W Siyanbola and O Olamade

MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany

Abstract: Understanding the types of innovations that SMEs currently undertake, and their commitment to innovation, is especially useful for policy making in developing countries. This paper, therefore, addressed two main questions: What types of innovation occur in SMEs? How intense is innovation in SMEs? We have used empirical information from a census carried out in the Nigerian Cable and Wire manufacturing industry. Questionnaire and interviews were the primary means of data collection and the data covered the 4-year period between 2003 and 2007. We found a high prevalence of organisational innovation and low prevalence of diffusion-based innovation. Innovation intensity was low at 0.114% per capita training investment. Interestingly, our findings revealed that process and marketing innovation accompanied each other. We conclude that SMEs in developing countries are not innovation-inactive and that they would do better if industries are well organised and firms make higher investments in learning and capability build-up.

Keywords: types of innovation; innovation intensity; SMEs; Nigeria; manufacturing; Cable & Wire (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L68 O32 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2009, Revised 2009
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https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/25341/2/MPRA_paper_25341.pdf original version (application/pdf)
https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/35796/1/MPRA_paper_35796.pdf revised version (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: The types and intensity of innovation in developing country SMEs: evidences from a Nigerian subsectoral study (2012)
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