Competition law, networks and innovation

摘要

This article investigates the determinants of innovative activities at the industry level for the Dutch manufacturing industries during the period 1993 to 2007. The results indicate that the transition from the old Economic Competition Act to the new Competition Act is statistically insignificantly associated with decreased innovation intensity, while it is positively and statistically significantly linked to an increased share of firms with patent applications. Furthermore, we find that cooperation with their suppliers for innovative activities boosts both innovation intensity of the industry and the ratio of firms with patent applications.