Innovation and Productivity in Services: Evidence from Chile

Abstract

We analyze empirically the firm-level relationship between innovation and productivity in the Chilean service sector using the manufacturing sector as a benchmark. We find that manufacturing and service industries have similar determinants of the probability of introducing technological innovations. We also find a positive effect of technological and nontechnological innovation on labor productivity for both sectors. However, there are some differences in the quantitative importance of some determinants of innovation. Our findings help to characterize the different stages of the service industry's innovative process and its effect on an emerging economy, providing useful information for policy design.