Knowledge-Intensive Business Services (KIBS) Use and User Innovation: High-Order Services, Geographic Hierarchies and Internet Use in Quebec's Manufacturing Sector

Abstract

Shearmur R. and Doloreux D. Knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) use and user innovation: high-order services, geographic hierarchies and internet use in Quebec's manufacturing sector, Regional Studies. Geographic proximity between users and suppliers of knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) provides no advantage in terms of innovation performance. This paper first establishes that it is those KIBS most closely associated with innovation that exhibit the highest mean distance to their users. It then shows that there is no connection between distance to KIBS suppliers and propensity to innovate. These results point to a Christallerian logic whereby innovators seek out KIBS (irrespective of distance), but whereby mean distances tend to be greater between users and innovation-related KIBS suppliers (located in central places), reflecting the different geographies of manufacturing users and service suppliers.

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