External Linkages Of Firms: Diferences Between a High-Tech And a Traditional Industryin Portugal

Abstract

Since very little is currently known about the external linkages of Portuguese enterprises i.e., how they relate themselves to other enterprises, to academic research, and to public sector institutions, this paper attempts to contribute to their understanding. In fact, the aim of this paper is to verify the following hypothesis: Although the extent and quality of linkages with other enterprises is significantly important across both high technology enterprises (e.g., in the electronics industry) and low-medium technology firms (e.g., in the mouldmaking industry), there is a distinctive pattern regarding the extent and quality of their linkages with academic research and with public sector institutions.