Introduction

Abstract

During the last decades, research and development (R&D) activities have be-come the most substantial pillar of innovation research in the attempt to explain the innovation ability and competiveness of enterprises, sectors and economies (Teece 1986; Brown/Eisenhardt 1995; Freeman 1994a, 1994b; Freeman/Soete 1997; Rosenthal 1992; Saviotti/Nooteboom 2000; Stock et al. 2002; OECD 2005; Rammer et al. 2009; Santamaría et al. 2009; Raymond/St. Pierre 2010). There is a vast amount of empirical literature that supports the importance of firm-internal, institutionalised R&D activities as the main source of many, productivity-enhancing, technological innovations to im-prove competitiveness, especially of fast growing industries such as pharma-ceuticals, automobiles, computers, communications, instruments, and machinery (Becheikh et al. 2006; Freeman 1994a; Freeman/Soete 1997). “There is ample empirical evidence supporting the hypothesis that R&D expenditures are a sine-qua-non for the firm’s level of innovation activities” (Shefer/Frenkel 2005: 25).