IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/uac/somwps/027.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Business Networks and Innovation in SMEs of a Developing Country

Author

Listed:
  • Forero, Clemente

    (School of Management, Universidad de Los Andes)

  • Corredor, Sandra

    (School of Management, Universidad de Los Andes)

  • Forero, Nohora

    (School of Management, Universidad de Los Andes)

Abstract

The impact of business networking on innovation has been analyzed from different perspectives [Granovetter et al. (2000), Callon (2001), Cowan (2004), Powell and Grodal (2005), Cantner and Graf (2006)]. One central issue is whether informal and formal innovation-related links have differential effects on the innovation performance of a firm. This relationship is of particular interest in the case of SMEs, since it can be argued that external links may compensate the limitations imposed by their size and lack of resources. We address the issue empirically, using data for 4,003 SMEs in Colombia. Poisson regression models are used for explaining innovation counts, and Zero-Inflated Poisson models are best suited for firm-level data of SMEs in developing countries, where a large proportion of firms report zero innovations. Results indicate that both formal and informal links are important determinants of the innovation performance of SMEs. Internal capabilities of the firm moderate the relationship between informal network links and innovation outcomes. Given the extent of imitation activities in firms of a developing country, a distinction is made between the analysis of product innovations based on invention and on imitation. In the case of inventions, informal links have a relatively higher importance than formal links, and mediate the relationship between internal capabilities and invention-based innovation counts. Finally, a comparison is made between innovation networking in SMEs and in large firms. Results show divergence on the relative importance of formal and informal links. The results are valuable for innovation policy design

Suggested Citation

  • Forero, Clemente & Corredor, Sandra & Forero, Nohora, 2010. "Business Networks and Innovation in SMEs of a Developing Country," Galeras. Working Papers Series 027, Universidad de Los Andes. Facultad de Administración. School of Management.
    • Handle: RePEc:uac:somwps:027
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://repositorio.uniandes.edu.co/bitstream/handle/1992/46371/Galeras-de-administraci%C3%B3n-27.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Richard N Langlois, 2003. "Schumpeter And The Obsolescence Of The Entrepreneur," Advances in Austrian Economics, in: Austrian Economics and Entrepreneurial Studies, pages 283-298, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    2. Cassey Lee & Lee Chew ging, 2007. "SME Innovation in the Malaysian Manufacturing Sector," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 12(30), pages 1-12.
    3. Wedig, Gerard J, 1990. "How Risky Is R and D? A Financial Approach," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 72(2), pages 296-303, May.
    4. Deborah Gladstein Ancona & David F. Caldwell, 1992. "Demography and Design: Predictors of New Product Team Performance," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 3(3), pages 321-341, August.
    5. Cohen, Wesley M & Klepper, Steven, 1996. "A Reprise of Size and R&D," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 106(437), pages 925-951, July.
    6. Hall, Bronwyn H., 1992. "Investment and Research and Development at the Firm Level: Does the Source of Financing Matter?," Department of Economics, Working Paper Series qt5j59j6x3, Department of Economics, Institute for Business and Economic Research, UC Berkeley.
    7. Loof, Hans & Heshmati, Almas, 2002. "Knowledge capital and performance heterogeneity: : A firm-level innovation study," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(1), pages 61-85, March.
    8. Rainer Winkelmann, 2008. "Econometric Analysis of Count Data," Springer Books, Springer, edition 0, number 978-3-540-78389-3, November.
    9. Belderbos, Rene & Carree, Martin & Lokshin, Boris, 2004. "Cooperative R&D and firm performance," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(10), pages 1477-1492, December.
    10. Mark Rogers, 2004. "Networks, Firm Size and Innovation," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 141-153, March.
    11. repec:ebl:ecbull:v:12:y:2007:i:30:p:1-12 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Tsai, Kuen-Hung, 2009. "Collaborative networks and product innovation performance: Toward a contingency perspective," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(5), pages 765-778, June.
    13. Belderbos, Rene & Carree, Martin & Lokshin, Boris, 2004. "Cooperative R&D and firm performance," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(10), pages 1477-1492, December.
    14. Wesley M. Cohen & Richard C. Levin & David C. Mowery, 1987. "Firm Size and R&D Intensity: A Re-Examination," NBER Working Papers 2205, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Åsa Lindholm Dahlstrand & Dilek Cetindamar, 2000. "The dynamics of innovation financing in Sweden," Venture Capital, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 2(3), pages 203-221, July.
    16. Bruce Kogut, 1988. "Joint ventures: Theoretical and empirical perspectives," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 9(4), pages 319-332, July.
    17. Tsai, Kuen-Hung & Wang, Jiann-Chyuan, 2005. "Does R&D performance decline with firm size?--A re-examination in terms of elasticity," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(6), pages 966-976, August.
    18. North, David & Smallbone, David & Vickers, Ian, 2001. "Public Sector Support for Innovating SMEs," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 16(4), pages 303-317, June.
    19. Acs, Zoltan J & Audretsch, David B, 1987. "Innovation, Market Structure, and Firm Size," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 69(4), pages 567-574, November.
    20. Vega-Jurado, Jaider & Gutiérrez-Gracia, Antonio & Fernández-de-Lucio, Ignacio & Manjarrés-Henri­quez, Liney, 2008. "The effect of external and internal factors on firms' product innovation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 616-632, May.
    21. Cohen, Wesley M & Levin, Richard C & Mowery, David C, 1987. "Firm Size and R&D Intensity: A Re-examination," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(4), pages 543-565, June.
    22. David J. Teece & Gary Pisano & Amy Shuen, 1997. "Dynamic capabilities and strategic management," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(7), pages 509-533, August.
    23. Petri Rouvinen, 2002. "Characteristics of product and process innovators: some evidence from the Finnish innovation survey," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(9), pages 575-580.
    24. Pavitt, Keith & Robson, Michael & Townsend, Joe, 1987. "The Size Distribution of Innovating Firms in the UK: 1945-1983," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(3), pages 297-316, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. María Jesús Rodríguez-Gulías & David Rodeiro-Pazos & Sara Fernández-López & Manuel Ángel Nogueira-Moreiras, 2021. "The effect of regional resources on innovation: a firm-centered approach," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 46(3), pages 760-791, June.
    2. González, Maximiliano & Guzmán, Alexander & Pombo, Carlos & Trujillo, María Andréa, 2012. "Family involvement and dividend policy in listed and non-listed firms," Galeras. Working Papers Series 034, Universidad de Los Andes. Facultad de Administración. School of Management.
    3. Guillermo Andrés ZAPATA HUAMANÍ & Sara FERNÁNDEZ LÓPEZ & Isabel NEIRA GÓMEZ & Lucía REY ARES, 2017. "THE ROLE OF THE ENTREPRENEUR IN NEW TECHNOLOGY-BASED FIRMS (NTBFs): AN ANALYSIS ACCORDING TO CONTEXT DEVELOPMENT," Regional and Sectoral Economic Studies, Euro-American Association of Economic Development, vol. 17(2), pages 25-42.
    4. González, Maximiliano & Garay, Urbi, 2012. "Market Segmentation: Venezuelan ADRs," Galeras. Working Papers Series 035, Universidad de Los Andes. Facultad de Administración. School of Management.
    5. María Jesús Rodríguez-Gulías & David Rodeiro-Pazos & Sara Fernández-López, 2016. "The Regional Effect on the Innovative Performance of University Spin-Offs: a Multilevel Approach," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 7(4), pages 869-889, December.
    6. González, Maximiliano & Garay, Urbi & Rosso, John, 2014. "The cost of equity in emerging markets: The case of Latin America," Galeras. Working Papers Series 038, Universidad de Los Andes. Facultad de Administración. School of Management.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Choi, Mincheol & Lee, Chang-Yang, 2021. "Technological diversification and R&D productivity: The moderating effects of knowledge spillovers and core-technology competence," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    2. Robin, Stéphane & Schubert, Torben, 2013. "Cooperation with public research institutions and success in innovation: Evidence from France and Germany," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(1), pages 149-166.
    3. Ipsita Roy, 2018. "Role of human resource practices in absorptive capacity and R&D cooperation," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 28(4), pages 885-913, September.
    4. Cohen, Wesley M., 2010. "Fifty Years of Empirical Studies of Innovative Activity and Performance," Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, in: Bronwyn H. Hall & Nathan Rosenberg (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 0, pages 129-213, Elsevier.
    5. Baumann, Julian & Kritikos, Alexander S., 2016. "The link between R&D, innovation and productivity: Are micro firms different?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(6), pages 1263-1274.
    6. Sumit Majumdar, 2011. "Scalability versus flexibility: firm size and R&D in Indian industry," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 36(1), pages 101-116, February.
    7. Chih-Sheng Hsieh & Michael D. König & Xiaodong Liu, 2012. "Network formation with local complements and global substitutes: the case of R&D networks," ECON - Working Papers 217, Department of Economics - University of Zurich, revised Feb 2017.
    8. Lee, Chang-Yang & Sung, Taeyoon, 2005. "Schumpeter's legacy: A new perspective on the relationship between firm size and R&D," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(6), pages 914-931, August.
    9. Gkypali, Areti & Arvanitis, Spyros & Tsekouras, Kostas, 2018. "Absorptive capacity, exporting activities, innovation openness and innovation performance: A SEM approach towards a unifying framework," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 143-155.
    10. Kibaek Lee & Jaeheung Yoo & Munkee Choi & Hangjung Zo & Andrew P Ciganek, 2016. "Does External Knowledge Sourcing Enhance Market Performance? Evidence from the Korean Manufacturing Industry," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(12), pages 1-19, December.
    11. Nanditha Mathew & George Paily, 2022. "STI-DUI innovation modes and firm performance in the Indian capital goods industry: Do small firms differ from large ones?," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 47(2), pages 435-458, April.
    12. Garcia Martinez, Marian & Zouaghi, Ferdaous & Garcia Marco, Teresa & Robinson, Catherine, 2019. "What drives business failure? Exploring the role of internal and external knowledge capabilities during the global financial crisis," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 441-449.
    13. Hana Kim & Eungdo Kim, 2018. "How an Open Innovation Strategy for Commercialization Affects the Firm Performance of Korean Healthcare IT SMEs," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-14, July.
    14. Martinez-Noya, Andrea & Narula, Rajneesh, 2018. "What more can we learn from R&D alliances? : A review and research agenda," MERIT Working Papers 2018-022, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    15. Christian Rammer & Dirk Czarnitzki & Alfred Spielkamp, 2009. "Innovation success of non-R&D-performers: substituting technology by management in SMEs," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 33(1), pages 35-58, June.
    16. Hyoung Sun Yoo & Chul Lee & Seung-Pyo Jun, 2018. "The Characteristics of SMEs Preferring Cooperative Research and Development Support from the Government: The Case of Korea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-18, August.
    17. Criscuolo, Paola & Nicolaou, Nicos & Salter, Ammon, 2012. "The elixir (or burden) of youth? Exploring differences in innovation between start-ups and established firms," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(2), pages 319-333.
    18. Daniel Nepelski & Giuseppe Piroli, 2018. "Organizational diversity and innovation potential of EU-funded research projects," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 43(3), pages 615-639, June.
    19. Doh, Soogwan & Kim, Byungkyu, 2014. "Government support for SME innovations in the regional industries: The case of government financial support program in South Korea," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(9), pages 1557-1569.
    20. Chuchu Chen & Albert N. Link & Zachary T. Oliver, 2018. "U.S. federal laboratories and their research partners: a quantitative case study," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 115(1), pages 501-517, April.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:uac:somwps:027. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Rodrigo Taborda (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/faandco.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.