How innovative are services? an empirical analysis for Spain

The relevance of innovation as an engine of economic growth has never been denied, but the main emphasis has typically been placed on the manufacturing sector. A key step in this direction is the carrying out of innovation surveys that include the tertiary sector. Along these lines, the aim of this article is to provide evidence about the innovative character of services in Spain. Drawing on the Third Community Innovation Survey (CIS 3) for Spain, we use factor and cluster analyses to demonstrate that services do innovate, and to locate these activities in the production system.