The effects of developing-countries’ innovation support programs: evidence from Ecuador

Resumen

This paper evaluates the impact of Ecuadorian innovation support programs, which are intended to enhance firms' technological and managerial capabilities, on firms' innovative behavior and performance. In order to estimate the causal effects, we employ different Propensity Score Matching procedures. Results indicate that participating in a program increases firms' internal R&D and innovation effort, the qualification of the workforce, the likelihood of introducing product, process and organizational innovations and the probability of establishing linkages with research partners. However, participants do not show greater external R&D intensity or a higher propensity to patent, nor are they more likely to cooperate with suppliers, customer or competitors.