Firm innovation in Africa and Latin America: Heterogeneity and country context
利用世界银行企业调查数据，分析了35个非洲和拉丁美洲国家中企业能力和国家特征如何影响企业创新活动与产出，发现资本投资和培训在发展中经济体中与研发同等重要。
Abstract In this paper, we analyze the drivers of firm innovation in 35 African and Latin American countries. We investigate how firm-level capabilities and national country characteristics affect firm innovation activities and innovation outputs. Using data from the World Bank Enterprise Surveys, we analyze the factors driving firm-level innovation distinguishing two stages in the innovation process: firm engagement with innovation inputs and the translation of innovation inputs into innovation outputs. The paper provides empirical support for the importance of country-level macro and institutional characteristics, in addition to firm-level capabilities, across a large number of countries in determining firm-level innovation. We demonstrate that capital investment and training are just as important innovation activities as research and development spending in developing economies. We highlight the heterogeneity in firm innovation across firm size, country- and firm-level characteristics, and economic sectors.