Innovation Persistence in Manufacturing Firms
Summary
Innovation persistence refers to the sustained capacity of manufacturing firms to generate and embed new products, processes and organisational methods over successive periods. This continuity is critical for maintaining competitive advantage, responding to market shifts and supporting long-term economic growth. Recent work emphasises that persistence arises from a combination of firm-level capabilities—such as investments in research and development (R&D), learning routines and organisational culture—and external factors, including knowledge spillovers, collaboration networks and access to diverse markets. Empirical studies highlight path dependence, whereby past innovation success increases the likelihood of future breakthroughs, and state dependence, which captures genuine carry-over effects rather than mere selection of inherently innovative firms. Persistent innovating firms often demonstrate strategic use of alliances with suppliers, customers and research institutions, balanced portfolios of incremental and radical projects, and agile adaptation to global value chains. Policy frameworks that support skills development, protect intellectual property and foster cross-border knowledge exchanges are shown to reinforce firm-level inertia towards continuous innovation. Together, these dimensions underscore the global relevance of persistence as both a research construct and a practical target for industrial policy and managerial action.
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Innovation Persistence in Manufacturing Firms publication trend
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Technical terms
Innovation persistence: The ongoing ability of a firm to generate and implement new ideas, products or processes across multiple time periods.
Knowledge spillovers: The transfer of technical or market knowledge from one firm or research entity to another, often facilitated by geographic proximity or networks.
State dependence: A statistical concept indicating that past outcomes directly influence the probability of similar outcomes in the future, beyond observable firm characteristics.
Random-effects model: A statistical approach that accounts for unobserved heterogeneity across entities by treating individual-specific effects as random variables.
References
- Export and variability in the innovative status. Eurasian Business Review (2023).
- Local knowledge spillovers and innovation persistence of firms. Economics of Innovation and New Technology (2022).
- Collaboration with External Organizations and Technological Innovations: Evidence from Spanish Manufacturing Firms. Sustainability (2019).
- Elements of the Persistence in Innovation: Systematic Literature Review. Administrative Sciences (2020).
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