Differences in the Impact of Innovation Relationships on Firms’ Productivity: Evidence from CIS 2014

ABSTRACT

The existence of complementarity relationships between different types of innovations is important for developing synergistic effects and economies of scale. This, in turn, should yield increased firm productivity. Here, we explore the potential impact of complementarity and/or substitutability relationships between different innovation activities on the firms’ performance by utilizing cross-sectional data taken from the Community Innovation Survey (CIS2014) for two groups of countries: Central and Eastern Europe and Western European countries. The results indicate that all types of innovation have a statistically significant and positive impact on the productivity of the companies operating in both markets.

KEYWORDS:

• Innovation
• complementarity
• substitutability
• Central and Eastern Europe
• Western Europe

JEL Classification:

• O31
• O33

Acknowledgment

The anonymous data used in the analysis of this paper were obtained on CD-ROM from Eurostat as part of the research proposal “The role of innovation in productivity growth across selected Central and Eastern European countries after the crisis.” The results and the conclusions are given by the authors and represent their opinions and not necessarily those of Eurostat, the European Commission, or any of the statistical authorities whose data have been used.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Viktor Stojkoski

Viktor Stojkoski, PhD, received a PhD degree in Computer Science from Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, R. Macedonia. Since January 2021 he has been a Post-doctoral researcher at the Center for Collective Learning at the University of Toulouse, France. Besides this, Viktor is also a teaching and research assistant at the department of Mathematics and Statistics at the Faculty of Economics in Skopje. He has coauthored more than 30 articles in renowned scientific journals and has participated in 5 international projects funded by the European Research Council, the German Science Foundation and the U.S. Office for Naval Research. His research interests span from applied econometrics to patterns in complex networks.

Katerina Toshevska-Trpchevska

Katerina Toshevska-Trpchevska is born in Skopje in 1979. Since 2003 she has been employed at the Faculty of Economics, University Ss. Cyril and Methodius in Skopje, Republic of Macedonia. In 2017 she has been elected as Associate Professor on Multilateral Trading System, International Trade Transactions and Multilateral Trading Regulation at the same faculty. Here main field of interests are different aspects of international trade, activities of the World Trade Organization and especially the field of trade facilitation. She also teaches Regional Trade Agreements and WTO at Postgraduate European Studies. During her university career she has published more than fifty papers, participated in more than hundred domestic and international conferences, seminars and workshops and done four study visits abroad: at the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences in Hamburg, Germany, at Porto Accounting and Business School – ISCAP of the Instituto Politecnico do Porto in Porto, Portugal, at the George Washington University in Washington, USA; and at the Faculty of Economics on the Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal. Among the seminars special attention deserve the participation at the 12th WIPO-WTO Colloquim for Teachers of Intellectual Property organized by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva in 2015 and participation at the 24 Regional course on Key Aspects on the International Economic Agenda in the Countries of Transition” in organization of UNCTAD at the Faculty of Economics at the University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia.

Elena Makrevska Disoska

Elena Makrevska Disoska, PhD is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Economics-Skopje, University Ss. Cyril and Methodius in Skopje, the Republic of Macedonia at the department of international trade. Her field of interest are different aspects of international economics, international organizations, and European Economic Integration. She has published many articles in international journals and four books: The EU Internal Market (2020); International Organizations and Integration (2018); The Euro and the international trade of EU (2015) and The 360 degrees look at the world economic crisis -on English (2012). So far, she has been engaged in several national projects and has participated in many international and domestic workshops and conferences. Among the seminars special attention deserves the participation at UNCTAD Thirty-fourth regional course on key issues on the international economic agenda organized by UNCTAD in 2016 at the University of Belgrade, Faculty of Economics, and participation at the Online Intensive program in European Law and Economics, organized by the Riga Graduate School of Law in 2021.

Dragan Tevdovski

Dragan Tevdovski is Full-time Professor in Statistics and Quantitative methods in finance at the Faculty of Economics, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University. He was multiple times selected as one of the most inspiring professors in North Macedonia. Dragan is author of two university textbooks. His articles have been published in various refereed journals in the areas of macroeconomics, innovation and productivity. Currently he is Advisor to the Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund. He was Minister for Finance in the Government of the Republic of North Macedonia in the period May 2017 - June 2019.