Understanding innovation in creative industries: knowledge bases and innovation performance in art restoration organisations

This paper studies innovation in the creative industry of art restoration, which is characterised by an intensive use of symbolic knowledge. Using the resource-based view of the firm as a theoretical framework, this study adapts Community Innovation Survey (CIS) methodology to this industry, creating and exploiting a unique dataset from the restoration departments of museums in 43 countries on 5 continents. The results suggest that the type and composition of the knowledge bases in play influence a department’s absorptive capacity to access external information sources and thereby impact innovative outcomes. The article contributes to innovation literature by capturing innovation processes in a symbolic-based industry.