Forms of Knowledge and Modes of Innovation

This paper contrasts two modes of innovation. One, the Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) mode, is based on the production and use of codified scientific and technical knowledge. The other, the Doing, Using and Interacting (DUI) mode, relies on informal processes of learning and experience-based know-how. Drawing on the results of the 2001 Danish DISKO Survey, latent class analysis is used to identify groups of firms that practice the two modes with different intensities. Logit regression analysis is used to show that firms combining the two modes are more likely to innovate new products or services than those relying primarily on one mode or the other. The paper concludes by considering the implications for benchmarking innovation systems and for innovation policy.