Juan A. Martínez-Román

The entrepreneur in the regional innovation system. A comparative study for high- and low-income regions

ABSTRACT This paper investigates the influence of entrepreneurs’ characteristics on innovation in regions with different levels of development. By doing so, this work seeks to contribute to a better understanding of the role of entrepreneurs in the functioning and performance of regional innovation systems. The influence of entrepreneurs’ personal characteristics and their perceptions of the business environment on firm innovation are investigated via a survey of companies carried out in six Spanish regions. The results allow the identifying of significant differences in the main determinants of innovation in the high-income regions and low-income regions studied. Entrepreneurs’ generalized trust stimulates innovation only in high-income regions, where necessity motivation has also a negative effect on innovation. Growth ambition seems to play a highly positive role only in the case of low-income regions. Human capital and infrastructure are perceived by the entrepreneurs as the main bottlenecks for innovation in low-income regions, whereas in the case of high-income regions the legal, fiscal and financial systems are considered the key institutional barriers. These differences in the entrepreneurial factor should be taken into account in order to design and implement policies to stimulate and foster innovation in different regional contexts.