UNU-MERIT Working Papers Series
The role of industry and economic context in open innovation: Evidence from Nigeria
Abiodun Egbetokun, Omolayo Oluwatope, David Adeyeye & Maruf Sanni #2014-073Using innovation survey data on a sample of UK manufacturing firms,
Laursen and Salter [2006] documented a non-monotonous relationship
between external search strategies and firm-level innovative
performance. We find partially similar results in a combined sample of
Nigerian manufacturing and service firms. A major discrepancy is that
external search appears not to matter for radical innovation in our
sample. Based on multiple research streams including economics of
innovation and development economics, we develop and test new hypotheses
on sectoral differences and the role of the economic context. We find
that in a developing context, a wider range of innovation obstacles
implies broader external search and more intense obstacles require
deeper search. We explore the implications of these results for
management research and theory.
Keywords: open innovation; search strategies; innovation obstacles;
technological and non-technological innovation; Nigeria
JEL Classification: L14, O32, C30
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