Family Firms and Innovation Ecosystems: A Pathway to Enhanced Innovation Performance

This study investigates the moderating role of family involvement in the relationship between participation in innovation ecosystems and innovation output. Focusing on a sample of Italian innovative SMEs, we employ patent data as a proxy for innovation performance and utilize a zero-inflated Poisson regression model for analysis. Our findings reveal that participation in innovation ecosystems significantly enhances innovation output, with a positive moderating effect observed when family involvement is present. These results shed light on the importance of innovation ecosystem and the pivotal role of family involvement in shaping how SMEs benefit from ecosystem-based collaboration, offering valuable insights for policymakers and practitioners aiming to bolster innovation performance in family-owned businesses.