The perception of obstacles to innovation. Foreign multinationals and domestic firms in Italy

Abstract

This paper looks at the perception of obstacles to innovation of both foreign multinational enterprises (MNEs) and domestic firms located in Italy. Drawing on firm-level data from the Italian third Community Innovation Survey (CIS3), we show that important differences in firms’ perception of obstacles to innovation occur both across macro-regions and types of firms (i.e. foreign multinationals versus domestic firms belonging to a group and single domestic firms). The results offer support to the typical North-South divide that exists in the Italian innovation system. In addition, firms belonging to a group (especially foreign MNEs) appear to be less sensitive to their socio-economic and institutional context than single domestic firms.

Exploring Firm-Level Innovation and Productivity in Developing Countries: The Perspective of Caribbean Small States

“…Madrid-Guijarro et al (2009) found that the barriers to innovation that Spanish SMEs faced were the external environment, human resources, and financial position. Mohnen and Rosa (2001), Hyytinen and Toivanen (2005), and Iammarino et al (2009) found that small firms faced significant financial barriers to innovation. Pihkala, Ylinenpaa, and Vesalainen (2002), using a sample of European SMEs, empirically illustrated that the barriers to innovation were not equally distributed among firms, but differed based on age, size, type of industry, and the innovativeness of the firm.…”

“…Studies have also examined the perception of innovation between domestic and foreign firms. Iammarino et al (2009) studied foreign-and Italian-owned multinational corporations operating in northern and central Italy and found that foreignowned firms were more aware of innovation barriers. Baldwin and Lin (2002) and Mohnen and Rosa (2001) found that competition increased innovation barriers.…”

“…Similarly, in a study of Canadian service firms which were innovators, Mohnen and Rosa (2001) also found that the most innovation intensive firms reported more frequent barriers to innovation. Iammarino et al (2009) studied Italian firms and focused on whether the perception of barriers to innovation varied among types of firms and regions. Similarly, they concluded there is a positive relationship between a firm's perception of innovation barriers and their propensity to innovate.…”

The factors constraining innovation performance of SMEs in Croatia

“…A good deal of research on constraints to innovation relies on the CIS data set. Examples are Mohnen, Palm, van der Loeff, and Tiwary (2008), Galia, Mancini, and Morandi (2012), Iammarino, Sanna-Randaccio, and Savona (2007), D 'Este, Iammarino, Savona, and von Tunzelmann (2008), to name just a few. Earlier contributions to the literature that are not based on CIS data include work of Piatier (1984) and later Hadjimanolis (1999Hadjimanolis ( , 2003.…”

Determinants of internal and external R&D offshoring: evidence from Spanish firms

“…Companies belonging to groups are supposed to have easier access to finance, technological knowledge or trained people, because of the close relations with other group members (Guzzini and Iacobucci, 2014). As a consequence, they tend to perceive financial obstacles to innovation as significantly less relevant than independent firms (Iammarino et al, 2009). …”