Title: The role of technology-based knowledge-intensive business services in the innovation performance of manufacturing firms in Mexico

Authors: Francisco Carrillo-Carrillo; Henar Alcalde-Heras

Addresses: Deusto Business School, University of Deusto and Orkestra-Basque Institute of Competitiveness, Mundaiz, 50, Donostia-San Sebastian 20012, Spain ORCID: 0000-0003-1163-6402 ' Deusto Business School, University of Deusto and Orkestra-Basque Institute of Competitiveness, Mundaiz, 50, Donostia-San Sebastian 20012, Spain ORCID: 0000-0002-9564-4460

Abstract: This paper examines the role of Technology-based Knowledge-Intensive Business Services (T-KIBS) as potential suppliers of crucial knowledge for innovation in foreign and domestic manufacturing firms in medium technology sectors. An emphasis is made on the mechanisms in which T-KIBS impact the innovation outputs of firms. The analysis is based on a sample of 3 907 manufacturing firms with 10 or more employees from the period of 2010 to 2013. The results show that product innovation in medium-low-tech (MLT) and medium-high-tech (MHT) manufacturing firms is positively influenced by T-KIBS to different extents depending on their ownership. Our findings suggest that T-KIBS might be linked to greater rates of innovation in manufacturing firms in an emerging economy.

Keywords: knowledge-intensive business services; technology-based KIBS; manufacturing firms; ownership; product innovation; innovation output; medium-low-tech manufacturing; medium-high-tech manufacturing; emerging economies.

DOI: 10.1504/IJKBD.2020.115034

International Journal of Knowledge-Based Development, 2020 Vol.11 No.4, pp.357 - 381

Received: 25 Jan 2020
Accepted: 25 Nov 2020
Published online: 14 May 2021 *

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