Innovation and Competitiveness of Nordic Services (ICONS)

Abstract:

The ICONS project investigates the relationship between innovation and the international competitiveness of service industries. The various empirical studies produced within the project make use of a rich variety of data sources on the innovative activities and international performance of thousands of enterprises in both manufacturing and service industries in the Nordic countries, and complement these with data at a more aggregate (industry- and country-) level of analysis. In order to shed new light on this engaging, broad and complex field of research, the project aims at three more specific (and interrelated) objectives: (1) the investigation of differences across industries in terms of their technological activities and economic dynamics, in order to highlight the main drivers of the process of structural change and industrial transformation in the long run; (2) the analysis of the link between innovation and economic performance at the firm-level, and of the extent to which this relationship is affected by sector-specific characteristics related to technological and market conditions specific to each industry; (3) the study of the patterns and determinants of different internationalisation channels and strategies that are undertaken by Nordic enterprises in the service sectors.