摘要：The innovation value chain (IVC) divides the innovation process into three separate
links or activities: knowledge gathering, knowledge transformation and knowledge
exploitation. Here, we report a comparative panel data analysis of the IVC in Ireland
and Switzerland. Both economies are small, very open and depend significantly on
innovation to maintain competitive advantage. In recent years, however, R&D and
innovation growth in Ireland has been markedly stronger than that in Switzerland. We
investigate these differences through the ‘lens’ of the IVC. We identify significant
similarities between the determinants of firms’ knowledge gathering behaviours in
each country although firms are responding differently to financial and legal
constraints. Strong complementarities emerge between external knowledge sources
and between firms’ internal and external knowledge. In terms of knowledge
transformation – the development of new products or processes – we again find strong
similarities between the two countries in terms of the determinants of the probability
of innovation. The determinants of innovation intensity vary more, however, with
external ownership significantly more important in Ireland. Finally, we consider the
link between innovation and productivity which involves significant endogeneity
issues. Two-stage estimation procedures do not suggest any significant links between
innovation and productivity as we might expect from the macro-economic evidence.
