Sources of ideas and knowledge for innovatory small companies: disaggregation of Australian and Eurostat CIS2 innovation survey data

This study explores the use and importance of university and other public sector research by business enterprises reporting product, process and (in some countries) service innovations, from OECD Innovation Surveys, the European Union, Canada and Australia. The paper tests the Eurostat CIS2 innovation survey conclusion that firms saw public sector research as important according to: whether innovations are world-first; firm size; whether the research could be used by the firm. Analyzing company responses from Eurostat, ABS and Yellow Pages innovation surveys, the paper indicates variations in importance of public sector research by manufacturing sector and firm size. The study concludes that to be effective, increased public sector research expenditure should be linked to increased private sector R& expenditure, particularly by SMEs