The mechanisms of technological innovation in SMEs: a Bayesian Network Analysis of EU regional policy impact on Polish firms.

Massimo Florio; Aleksandra Parteka; Emanuela Sirtori

doi:10.3846/tede.2018.6056

The mechanisms of technological innovation in SMEs: a Bayesian Network Analysis of EU regional policy impact on Polish firms.

Abstract

We study the underlying mechanisms of technological innovation in SMEs in the context of ex-post evaluation of European Union’s regional policy. Our aim is to explain the observed change in firms’ innovativeness after receiving EU support for technological investment. To do so, we take an approach that is novel in innovation studies: a Bayesian Network Analysis to assess the effectiveness of EU policy instrument for technological innovation and to determine the mechanisms by which the policy works within firms. Our data draw from a unique survey of 200 Polish firms that received “Technological Credit” during the 2007−2013 programming period. First, we confirm the short-term positive impact of the EU innovation policy (i.e. a wider range of products/services offered, increased sales and exports). More importantly, we determine the causal chain between economically quantifiable outcomes and behavioural change in the firm, which is an important node in the network of effects generated. We find that only the financially sounder and more internationalised firms managed to take advantage of the policy. These findings suggest that programmes based on technological credits are not well suited to foster innovation in more fragile and domestically oriented SMEs, which may require different policy instruments.

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Authors (3)

Massimo Florio
- University of Milan, Italy
Aleksandra Parteka dr hab. inż.
Emanuela Sirtori
- Centre for Industrial Studies, Milan, Italy

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Keywords

TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION, REGIONAL POLICY, POLICY IMPACT EVALUATION, BAYESIAN NETWORK ANALYSIS, SMES

Details

Category:: Articles
Type:: artykuł w czasopiśmie wyróżnionym w JCR
Published in:: Technological and Economic Development of Economy no. 24, pages 2131 - 2160,
ISSN: 2029-4913
Language:: English
Publication year:: 2018
Bibliographic description:: Florio M., Parteka A., Sirtori E.: The mechanisms of technological innovation in SMEs: a Bayesian Network Analysis of EU regional policy impact on Polish firms.// Technological and Economic Development of Economy. -Vol. 24, nr. 5 (2018), s.2131-2160
DOI:: Digital Object Identifier (open in new tab) 10.3846/tede.2018.6056
Verified by:: Gdańsk University of Technology