Economics Of Innovation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Economics Of Innovation - Essay Example The essence of innovation is commercialized change. Its commercial nature warrants special emphasis, in that innovation pertains directly and exclusively, to observable market activities and outcomes – to the scope of good and services that are offered to consumers, or to technological and organizational advances that facilitates the flow of these goods and services. Innovation is about more than ideas, it is about how the economic system transforms ideas into outcomes, outcomes that continually shapes its evolution. Considerable economic research has been devoted to establishing whether small and large firms differ with regard to the rate of innovation or their R & D activity. In the recent literature on industrial innovation, the main issue is not whether small or large firms are more innovative, but the role each plays in the innovation process. The growth in the number of small firms during the 1980s is not seen as an independent process, but is attributed to the decentral ization strategies of large firms (Albert and Patrick, 1992).The outsourcing of entrepreneurial functions by larger firms ha increased their flexibility, allowing them to react more quickly to changing market conditions. Small firms are a major source for new product and processes, but due to their limited financial resources they are often confined to the first phase of the innovation process.