Interactions between investments in innovation and SME competitiveness in the peripheral regions

Since 2000 (The Lisbon Strategy), the discussion about the possible interactions between investments in innovation and competitiveness has become increasingly essential. Enterprises differ substantially with regard to their innovation activities, competitiveness and performance: size, sector, type of investment together determine their innovation activities. The main aim of this study is to analyze the roles of investments in innovation and how investments influence SME competitiveness in a peripheral region in Poland. The author investigates the effects of innovation activities among small and medium but also micro firms. The research was based on the data drawn from CATIs carried out among 808 firms (410 innovative and 398 non-innovative ones). To determine statistically significant differences between the variables of innovative and noninnovative companies, the logistic regression method was implemented. The research results show that among SMEs in the peripheral regions, not every type of investment affects competitiveness. The greatest dependence is demonstrated by the expenditures on machinery and equipment, on marketing activities, on intellectual property protection, and on training. The study also shows the existence of negative factors, the increase in which leads to a reduction in competitiveness level. Moreover, an innovative company which invests in innovation increases the chance of improving competitiveness more than a noninnovative company which invests in innovation.