Low-tech <span style='font-style: italic;'>vs</span> high-tech entrepreneurship: A study in France and Australia

In this paper, we examine the nature of innovation within small firms across two OECD countries with a particular focus on the differences between firms with low R&D intensity and those with high R&D intensity. Drawing on a sample of small to medium enterprises (SME) who were engaged in the commercialization of at least one innovation, the study finds that there are differences between the needs of high and low to mid-tech firms in terms of type of innovation produced and in terms of formalization of the innovation process. The study also suggests that low to mid tech small firms innovate and need to be supported, but that governments generally speaking put the emphasis on more visible but less numerous high tech firms.