Does competition increase or decrease the innovation gap between the best and the rest?
Abstract
This paper examines whether competition leads to more or less concentration of innovation efforts and innovation outputs among Swiss firms. Using firm panel data from ten waves of the Swiss Innovation Surveys and unconditional quantile regressions, we find that increased perceived competition reduces the dispersion of innovation. The effect is mostly operating on the extensive margin. Our estimates further suggest that R&D and product innovation are more responsive to perceived non-price competition than to price competition whereas process innovation is more responsive to price competition.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Economic Growth and Productivity
Firm Innovation and Growth
Global trade and economics
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization
- Volume
- 246
- Pages
- 107577–107577
- Publication date
- 27 April 2026
- Language
- EN