Is the R&D behaviour of fast-growing SMEs different? Evidence from CIS III data for 16 countries

This paper studies the R&D behaviour of fast growing SMEs using CIS III data for 16 countries. We group the countries into three categories of countries having roughly the same stage of technological development. Our first finding is that R&D is more important to high-growth SMEs in countries that are closer to the technological frontier. The second finding is that high-growth SMEs are only more innovative than non-high-growth SMEs in countries close to the technological frontier. This suggests that gazelles derive much of their drive from the exploitation of comparative advantages. From a policy perspective, this indicates that there are important limits to centralising policies that aim to foster high-growth SMEs.