Partnerships and Innovative Patterns in Small and Medium Enterprises

This paper investigates the effects of cooperation agreements as possible drivers of innovative performance for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). Drawing on the theoretical paradigm of ‘open innovation’ and on empirical evidence of the existence of a ‘threshold to innovate’, we analyse whether partnership agreements act as determinants for the SMEs to cross the innovative threshold or to persist in innovation activities. Our findings suggest that adopting cooperative strategies is beneficial for companies in order to become and/or remain innovators. Distinguishing among size classes, the collaborative advantage seems to be higher for the SMEs: joining forces with other companies, the SMEs can overcome the limits derived from their scarce resources and become active innovators.