Firm size, sectors and countries as sources of variety in innovation

This paper aims at providing a comprehensive empirical appraisal of the nature, extent and sources of variety in innovation in industry across Europe. The results presented in the empirical section of this paper are based on a unique database (SIEPI) containing data drawn by the second Community Innovation Survey (CIS2) for 10 countries, 22 manufacturing sectors and three firm-size classes. This database has allowed us to look beyond the sectoral aggregate statistics provided by Eurostat and explore in detail the differences in innovation processes both within and across European countries and manufacturing industries. Further, the SIEPI database has been used to identify the determinants of the variety in innovation across Europe. In particular, the analysis focuses on the relative importance of sector-specific, context-specific and firm-size factors in driving firms’ innovative behaviours and performances.