Innovation and business performance determinants of SMEs in the Adriatic region that introduced social innovation

摘要

The objective of this study is to investigate innovation and businessperformance determinants of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)located in the Adriatic region that introduced social innovation andto compare these SMEs with SMEs that did not introduce socialinnovation or did not innovate at all. This research is a part of widerresearch on innovation in the Adriatic Region conducted as partof the EU-funded project PACINNO. The results show that socialinnovators perceive their business performance to be higher thantheir competitors and are exporting significantly more than otherfirms. This study contributes to the under-researched area of socialinnovation in the Adriatic Region with quantitative empirical results.In addition, the results can serve as guidelines for policy makers andother stakeholders, particularly in the field of social innovation.