ERC - ResPap112 ExecSum Advice and SMEs Who Takes it and What Happens Thereafter Brown Cowling Sun

The views expressed in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the funders. [...] Drawing on the Longitudinal Small Business Survey (LSBS) undertaken by the UK’s Department of Business and Trade, this report provides new insights into the benefits of different kinds of business advice and how this affects the levels of innovative and productivity within UK SMEs. [...] On average, around a quarter (27%) of the firms in our sample engaged in some form of external advice and they are most inclined to use advice related to day-to-day operations. [...] While taking a combination of both day-to- day and strategic advice enhanced productivity, it appears that for the most “radical” innovators the pursuance of strategic advice was the critical factor enhancing performance. [...] Accessing these “open” sources of knowledge and information also seems to augment the traditionally low levels of absorptive capacity in SMEs - which is the ability to evaluate the technological and commercial potential of knowledge in a particular domain, assimilate it, and apply it to commercial ends.