The effects of knowledge managementon innovative success –an empirical analysis of German firms

The aim of this paper is to analyse the effects of knowledge management on theinnovation success of firms in Germany. Using a matching procedure on data from theGerman Innovation Survey of 2003 (“Mannheim Innovation Panel”), we pair firmsapplying knowledge management with twin firms with similar characteristics notapplying knowledge management. Our focus is on investigating the effects ofknowledge management techniques on the economic success of firms with product andprocess innovations. The results of our matching analysis reveal that firms whichapply knowledge management perform better in terms of higher-than-average sharesof turnover with innovative products compared to their twins. We do not find asignificant effect of knowledge management on the share of cost reductions withprocess innovation.[...] Uwe Cantner, Kristin Joel, Tobias Schmidt