Innovation drivers of external competitiveness in the great recession
基于2008-2015年意大利企业调查数据，研究发现国际化与创新活动紧密相关，且创新对小型低生产率企业的竞争力提升作用更大，为危机中的企业战略和政策制定提供参考。
This paper explores the main drivers of firms' external competitiveness in times of crisis. We focus on the aftermath of the Great Recession (2008-2015) and present evidence based on a comprehensive survey of Italian companies (the MET dataset). Overall, our results highlight not only the strict correlation between internationalization and innovative activities but also a positive change of attitude of Italian firms towards these strategies. We show that, while structural factors play a key role for external competitiveness, other critical aspects trigger superior performances, especially strategic profiles, technological capabilities, and proactive behaviors such as innovativeness and R&D investment. Importantly, we document disproportionate effects of innovation for smaller and less productive companies. This points at dynamic strategies as a potential tool to fill the gap between larger/more productive companies and the set of less structured firms, a segment representing an ideal target for policy measures. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11187-021-00453-0.