AN APPROACH TO THE COOPERATION FOR INNOVATION IN THE SERVICE SECTOR

Abstract

This study examines how firms cooperate for innovation in the services sector. We tested the theoretical development using cluster analysis and ordinal logit regression analysis with firm-level data collected from the Spanish Technological Innovation Panel (PITEC) for the period 2011–2013. Overall, 2,622 service firms have been used. This research contributes as follows: first, the findings show that the greater degree of penetration into the innovation modes of the firms means that the intensity of the use of cooperative agreements as well as the diversity of cooperative partners increases. Second, the empirical evidence for the taxonomy of innovation development in the service sector provides firms with the ways how to innovate based on their strategic orientation.