The determinants of Italian firms’ technological competencies and capabilities

This paper aims at investigating the determinants of firms’ technological competencies and capabilities as defined by von Tunzelmann and Wang (Economie Appliquée 6:33–64, 2003). The analysis carried out in the paper shows that some company characteristics, such as size, being part of a group and internationalization, as well as cooperation channels significantly impact on the innovative behavior of Italian firms, in increasing both their likelihood of becoming actively innovative and their potential to economically exploit the returns from innovative activity. Moreover, also geographical location appears to be a significant relevant factor. The findings are based on firm-level data provided by the Italian Community Innovation Survey (CIS).