Innovation drivers of external competitiveness in the great recession

This paper explores the main drivers of firms’ external competitiveness in times of crisis. We focus on the aftermath of the Great Recession (2008–2015) and present evidence based on a comprehensive survey of Italian companies (the MET dataset). Overall, our results highlight not only the strict correlation between internationalization and innovative activities but also a positive change of attitude of Italian firms towards these strategies. We show that, while structural factors play a key role for external competitiveness, other critical aspects trigger superior performances, especially strategic profiles, technological capabilities, and proactive behaviors such as innovativeness and R&D investment. Importantly, we document disproportionate effects of innovation for smaller and less productive companies. This points at dynamic strategies as a potential tool to fill the gap between larger/more productive companies and the set of less structured firms, a segment representing an ideal target for policy measures. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11187-021-00453-0.