Innovation activity of Hungarian SMEs: an empirical examination

Abstract

While there has been great attention surrounding researches on innovation on the macro level (eg. propagation rate of innovations, spatial pattern, tender systems, contribution to economic performance, etc.), research on the firm-level (micro level) have been pushed to the background due to the high costs associated with data collection. In my view, making statements about the micro level of innovation without having the necessary firm-level data can only be done under restricted conditions. For this article I used University of Pécs’ Small Business Competitiveness Research Group’s (led by Prof. Dr. L·szlÛ Szerb) small business database, regarding innovation of new or improved products and services, and innovation of production/service processes. This is the database which I intend to analyse in this article, using descriptive statistics, relationship exploratory statistics and cluster analysis.