Innovation in Smes and Micro Firms ― Culture, Entrepreneurial Dynamics and Regional Development

What is the role of culture in the innovation dynamic of small firms within the context of their territorial environments? How do shared values, beliefs and practices underpin the knowledge production process that leads to innovation? In what way do symbolic aspects of social life shape European SMEs’ innovation processes?

This volume gives an extensive insight into the complex links between culture and innovation in one of the key agents of economic life: SMEs and micro firms. The chapters employ different analytical and methodological strategies in regions of Europe to identify dimensions of culture, especially values, norms, skills and institutions, and to scrutinize which specific components of culture are relevant to firm innovation and to the more general dynamics of regional innovation. The original research presented shows how small firms learn, interact, compete and collaborate with other key agents of the innovation system. Taken as a whole, the volume points the way towards a more comprehensive framework for understanding the nature of innovation in SMEs and micro firms.

The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of European Planning Studies.

Manuel Fernandez-Esquinas is a Research Scientist at the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC). His research interests lie in the intersection of the sociology of innovation and science policy. Currently he is serving as President of the Spanish Sociological Federation and Director of the Spanish Journal of Sociology.

Madelon van Oostrom is Lecturer and Researcher at Hanze University of Applied Sciences, The Netherlands and Innovation Manager of Tenerife Science & Technology Park, Spain. Her professional and academic interests concern innovation culture, entrepreneurship, institutions and education, and learning of skills and competences for innovation.

Hugo Pinto is a Researcher at the Centre for Social Studies, University of Coimbra, and Professor in the Faculty of Economics, University of Algarve, Portugal. Economist, PhD in Governance and Innovation, his research interests are regional innovation systems, knowledge transfer and smart specialisation in peripheral territories.