Empirical Analysis of KIBS: Contribution to Regional Economic Comparison

Introduction: The knowledge creation and knowledge transfer constitute the field of interdisciplinary nature whose scientific configuration has been consolidating in the international scope from its relation with the Knowledge Intensive Business Services – KIBS. Objective: Explain how the elements of a conceptual model based on KIBS (Knowledge Intensive Business Services) can be applied in an integrated way to assess the innovative capacity of firms in the service sector. Methodology: The building of the model is based on a bibliometric analysis of the central theme KIBS, in the databases Scopus and ISI Web of Knowledge (Web of Science). Results: In this study, it can be seen that during the seventeen years of research, the authors did not investigate the relationship between KIBS and the evaluation of the innovative capacity of firms in the service sector. Conclusion: The greater concentration of the analyzed papers investigates the attributes and roles of KIBS for innovation. It's an opportunity to assess the innovative capacity of KIBS in the service sector.

This study investigates the economic role and spillover effects of Knowledge-Intensive Business Services (KIBS), one of the key instruments for sustainable economic growth, in South Korea and the United States from 2010 to 2020. KIBS, comprising Technology-Intensive KIBS (T-KIBS) and Professional KIBS (P-KIBS), serve as critical drivers of innovation within organizations and economic systems, fostering long-term economic sustainability. To rigorously assess the economic spillover effects of KIBS in promoting sustainable economic growth, this study examines how its impact varies based on industrial structure, economic scale, and firms’ capacity to leverage KIBS effectively, while also identifying key structural differences across national contexts. The findings reveal that both countries exhibit a similar economic function for KIBS, with T-KIBS categorized as a “primitive final demand type” and P-KIBS as a “primitive intermediate demand type”. However, the economic spillover effects of KIBS were more stable in the U.S., whereas South Korea experienced greater fluctuations. In particular, South Korea’s P-KIBS had a more pronounced impact on the secondary sector, particularly manufacturing. As of 2020, the production-inducing effect of South Korea’s P-KIBS on the manufacturing sector was 39.1%, while its value-added-inducing effect stood at 27.0%, and its supply-shortage effect reached 50.9%. These values exceeded those of P-KIBS in the United States and generally surpassed the economic spillover effects observed for South Korea’s T-KIBS. Furthermore, the inter-industry linkage analysis suggests that KIBS plays a more significant role as a raw material input within the U.S. economic system. In 2020, the forward linkage effect of U.S. T-KIBS was 0.853, while that of U.S. P-KIBS stood at 2.116. These figures were higher than the forward linkage effects recorded for South Korea’s T-KIBS (0.635) and P-KIBS (1.590), underscoring the stronger integration of KIBS into the U.S. industrial structure. Additionally, the supply-shortage effects were more significant than other economic spillover effects in both countries, underscoring KIBS’ critical function as a key production input. These findings underscore the necessity of differentiated policies for fostering and supplying KIBS based on each country’s industrial structure and economic characteristics. Given its pivotal role in economic growth, this study emphasizes the need for a stable supply of KIBS to ensure continued productivity and value creation. Furthermore, this study emphasizes the necessity of fostering innovation within the T-KIBS sector, particularly in research and development, to enhance its contribution to financial and organizational innovation. By developing strategic policies tailored to national economic conditions, countries can maximize the economic benefits Cof KIBS and strengthen their long-term economic sustainability.

This paper explores the persistence of profitability and growth for firms operating in the Greek service sector, paying special attention to knowledge-intensive services (KIS) and knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS). The generalized method of moments is used on a rich panel of firms over a recent nine-year period. Quantile regressions are complementarily applied for KIS and KIBS industries. The key results from both growth and profit dynamics suggest that firms in KIS and KIBS industries persistently outperform firms in less knowledge-intensive service industries, pointing to strategic advantages of the former. Importantly, KIS and KIBS seem to be able to sustain their growth and profitability persistent trends even in times of crisis. Further insight into these issues is provided by the quantile analysis, the exploration of the profitability and growth inter-linkages, and the investigation of differences among various size groups in KIS and KIBS.

Innovation is a major factor in the survival of many firms; more specifically for firms in the service sector. Since the service industry is growing fast in India, knowledge intensive business services (KIBS) have understood the need for innovation through the creation and distribution of knowledge. Current literature on service innovation has rarely examined the internal innovation of KIBS firms; it has only been focusing on the acting role of KIBS in innovation for their client firms. Information transfer, design, and implementation of knowledge to the client firm are services provided by KIBS. Helping in to understand the relationships between knowledge management and innovation in KIBS provides ample scope for empirical investigation. The aim of the research is to extend Nonaka and Takeuchi’s (1995) knowledge management life cycle model and to prove, internal and external knowledge acts as a tool for service innovation, in Indian KIBS. Through a case study on a leading Indian KIBS – Wipro – we try to complement existing theory on service innovation with specific reference to knowledge management in KIBS.

In the global economic model, the service sector continues to gain ground on the manufacturing sector and trends such as the integration of new technologies into production processes are advancing inexorably. Advanced economies are pushed to specialise, supported by their regional innovation systems, and cities are emerging as key and strategic centres of activity. In this context, Knowledge Intensive Business Services (KIBS) are presented as critical due to their capacity to promote innovation within the regional productive fabric and smart specialisation strategies, the promotion of advanced manufacturing, the generation of quality employment and the stimulation of economic growth, especially in urban environments. This is why many cities, prioritizing KIBS to stimulate their economy, need to create and retain talent for this sort of industry. Likewise, vocational and education training (VET) systems, such as the Basque VET system, have so far developed their greatest strengths in the field of manufacturing knowledge. Due to this, VET seems to be obliged to adapt to this new scenario, in which KIBS and cities stand out, in order to continue to maintain their level of excellence. KIBS have been extensively examined, but until now no one had posed the following questions: What is the role of vocational training in KIBS? To what extent are VET profiles (and will VET profiles be) relevant in KIBS? This study will show an emerging trend in the labour market. This is the growing relevance of technology profiles with VET background in KIBS, especially in technology-based KIBS. VET technology profiles can be consolidated as one of the main implementing agents of the digital transformation (cybersecurity, blockchain, cloud computing, UX design, artificial intelligence, scientific computing...). To this end, hybridisation with other fields of knowledge but also with studies of other kinds such as university studies may be essential.

In the knowledge-based economy, the development of a particular type of services, knowledge intensive business services (KIBS), become one of the marking trends in economic evolution. The KIBS sector constitutes one of the characteristics of the contemporary economic (Muller E, Zenker A (2001) Business services as actors of knowledge transformation: the role of KIBS in regional and national innovation systems. Res Policy 30(9):1501–1516), and become one of the most dynamic components of the services sector in most industrialized countries (Strambach S (2001) Innovation process and the role of knowledge-intensive business services. In: Kulicke KM, Zenker A (eds) Innovation networks—concepts and challenges in the European perspective. Physica-Verlag, Heidelberg, New York, pp 53–68). According to the findings of the innovation survey on the Dutch service industry (Brouwer E, Kleinecht A (1995) An innovation survey in services: the experience with the cis questionnaire in the Netherlands. STI Review 16:141), service suppliers are commonly innovating. It has become clear that KIBS do innovate and hold an increasingly dynamic and pivotal role in innovation system (Gallouj F, Weinstein O (1997) Innovation in services. Res Policy 26(4/5):537–556), and a large share of innovative efforts in KIBS are related to the development of new services (Den Hertog P (2000) Knowledge-intensive business services as co-producers of innovation. Int J Innov Manag 4(4):491–528, Muller E, Zenker A (2001) Business services as actors of knowledge transformation: the role of KIBS in regional and national innovation systems. Res Policy 30(9):1501–1516).

PurposeThe literature on knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) shows them to be major innovators; this is confirmed with recent data, which the authors use to examine the various types of innovation that KIBS undertake. The implications for employment and work in highly innovative industries are important topics for analysis, not least because we are in a period where dramatic claims are being made as to the implications of new technologies for professional occupations. Thus, this paper aims to address major debates and conclusions concerning innovation patterns in KIBS and the evolving structures of professional and other work in these industries.Design/methodology/approachThis essay combines literature review with presentation and discussion of statistics that throw light on the patterns of innovation that characterise KIBS. The authors also consider data that concern trends in the organisation of work in these industries; while the focus is mainly on KIBS firms, they also pay some attention to KIBS-like work in other sectors. Even though KIBS are distinctive industries in modern economies, these analyses can be related to more general studies of, and forecasts about, changes in work organisation.FindingsThe authors show that innovation patterns and employment structures vary substantially across different types of KIBS, with the distinction between technological, professional and creative KIBS proving to be useful for capturing these differences. The authors are also able to demonstrate important long- and medium-term trends in the structure and activities of the KIBS industries. In particular, data clearly demonstrate the increasing share of professional as against associate and clerical workers in most KIBS. Evidence also suggests that polarisation trends across the economy are mirrored, and in some cases amplified, in KIBS. The future prospects for employment in KIBS, and for professional work in particular, are seen to involve multiple factors, which together may bring about substantial change.Research limitations/implicationsThe study involves literature review and industry-level statistical analysis. Future work would benefit from firm-level analysis and validation and explication of results via consultation with practitioners and users of KIBS. Some puzzling variations across countries and sectors will need to be explored with national and sectoral experts.Practical implicationsResearch into KIBS activities, and their future, should make more use of the extensive statistics on employment and other structural features of the industries that have become available in recent years. KIBS firms and practitioners will need to take account of the forces for change that are liable to restructure their activities.Originality/valueThe literature on KIBS has been concentrated on a rather narrow range of issues, while analysis of the current contributions and future development of the industries requires attention to a wider range of topics. This paper suggests how these topics may be investigated and their implications explored and presents results of enquiries along these lines.

The peculiarities of the intellectual services sector are determined in the work, the characteristic of new properties of digital transformation within the intellectual services sector is given. The author of the article, based on the deep analysis of theoretical material on the topic, presents the concept model of the services market in the context of two sectors: highly professional and intellectual services ones. The features of the formation of the sector of "knowledge-intensive services", which are consumed by business structures, and accordingly form "knowledge-intensive business services" ("Knowledge-intensive business services – KIBS") are considered in the article. The characteristics of the classification of knowledge intensive business services (KIBS) in the edition of Mueller and Zenker are revealed. The research of the use of intellectual services in ten segments on the example of Dnipro region. According to the results of the survey, tables are formed that characterize the elements of the intellectual services sector in three selected elements of KIBS: real estate, engineering and law firms, as well as in their other elements: marketing services, audit, financial services; advertising and design, recruitment. In addition, a survey of representatives of the relevant activities the rapid analysis of digital literacy of their professionals and identified features of the distribution of computer literacy in the analyzed three segments of the services market (engineering, real estate and legal) were conducted. The analysis of research results in the direction of computer and digital literacy of specialists of the companies of the specified elements of KIBS is executed. Also, the author (based on the survey) identified the degree of readiness of the staff of a number of companies to increase a computer literacy and mastering digital technologies. Some aspects of digitalization in the activities of companies in the intellectual services sector, which involves the widespread and active use of information and communication technologies are investigated. In turn, digitalization in the context of increasing the efficiency of companies in the intelligent services sector provides an opportunity to increase competitiveness by providing an individual approach to each consumer.

Purpose – The growing importance of knowledge and innovation in the present era motivated the author to study knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) in general and the case of India in particular. The purpose of this paper is to track in brief the strength of India’s economy lying in growth of knowledge-intensive services (KIS), which if harnessed properly can lead to its transition to a knowledge economy. More specifically, the paper tries to address two important questions: first, what constitutes KIS and KIBS? And second, how has KIBS been performing in India? Design/methodology/approach – The paper makes use of secondary sources of data including various reports, books, journals and statistical tools. An attempt has been made in this paper to review those studies which try to define KIS and KIBS. The data analysis of KIBS in the case of India has been done for the period 2004-2005 to 2011-2012 for which information was available from National Accounts Statistics published by Central Statistical Organization. Findings – The paper concludes that no unanimously accepted definition of KIBS has been given so far. In the Indian context it is defined as; “business services include services like computer-related services, R&D, accounting services and legal services and renting of machinery in order of importance (shares) as per India’s National Accounts”. An analysis of performance of KIBS in India shows that among KIBS there are two T-KIBs (with a technology base), namely IT and ITeS, and that R&D services occupy the first and second position in India’s gross domestic product (GDP), originating from business services (KIBS). R&D services registered the highest average annual growth rate followed by computer-related services, renting of machinery, legal services and accounting and auditing services during the seven-year period from 2004-2005 to 2011-2012. However, the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) was highest in the case of R&D services followed by renting of machinery, computer-related services, legal and accountancy and auditing services. KIBS registered a CAGR of 13.04 per cent, which was higher compared to overall GDP growth rate (at 7.36 per cent), and also compared to the CAGR of the real estate and ownership of dwellings and business services segment as a whole (7.62 per cent). Therefore, there is a need to tap the potential of all these KIBS, i.e. knowledge-intense high-tech services (KIHTS) and knowledge-intense marketing services taken in the study through policy initiatives. There is also a need to deal with emerging issues and challenges in KIBS, especially in KIHTS. Originality/value – Although there is empirical research on the KIS and KIBS of European Economies, KIBS in India has not received enough research attention. This paper will therefore mainly focus on the performance of KIBS in India.

Objetivo: Verificar se a longevidade das Micro e Pequenas Empresas (MPEs) de Serviços Intensivos em Conhecimento (SICs) é diferente das MPEs de Setores Tradicionais de Serviço (STSs).Metodologia/abordagem: Foram realizadas análises quantitativas de dados secundários, coletados na Junta Comercial do Estado de Minas Gerais (JUCEMG) e no Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE).Principais resultados: A primeira hipótese, que afirma que as empresas de SICs têm porcentagem maior de pessoas empregadas com nível de educação superior em relação a empresas de STSs, não foi rejeitada pela pesquisa. A segunda hipótese, que afirma que as empresas de SICs têm uma longevidade maior do que empresas de STSs, foi rejeitada pela pesquisa.Contribuições teóricas/metodológicas: Estudos anteriores alegaram que os SICs são fontes importantes de inovação, porém não foram encontrados estudos que analisassem e comparassem a longevidade das MPEs de SICs e STSs. Os estudos anteriores também não apresentavam uma classificação uniforme sobre os SICs. No presente estudo, foi realizada a análise da longevidade dos SICs e elaborada uma consolidação das definições dos SICs associando-as com a Classificação Nacional de Atividades Econômicas do IBGE. Tal associação pode ser aplicada em outras pesquisas.Relevância/originalidade: As MPEs são reconhecidas por possuírem grande importância social e econômica, principalmente pela geração de empregos. E os SICs são reconhecidos pela geração de inovação para outras empresas, elemento esse que pode ser decisivo para a competitividade. Portanto, o estudo das MPEs de setores SICs tem relevante importância econômica.

PurposeWithin the service sectors, Knowledge Intensive Business Services (KIBS) play an important role in local and regional economies as sources of competitive advantages and providing knowledge-intensive inputs to the business process of small and medium-sized enterprises. This study aims to analyze the changes in financial performance of KIBS industry in Italy over the period from 2012 to 2017.Design/methodology/approachThis paper examines the efficiency of the KIBS firms by applying data envelopment analysis (DEA) to compute the Malmquist Productivity Index for the period under investigation. The DEA-based Malmquist productivity analysis is applied at firm level using a sample consisting 1.674 companies, representative of the Italian KIBS sector and related to three different NACE activity code (72-computing services; 73-research and development; 74 other professional business activities). The efficiency measures are then used to characterize KIBS firm financial performance through the analysis of average productivity patterns grouped by Italian geographical regions. The Malmquist productivity measures are decomposed into two components: efficiency change and technical change index. The overall analysis is coupled with a financial ratio analysis approach, selecting return on equity (ROE) and leverage ratio as descriptor to validate the results and better characterize differences in efficiency patterns among geographic-based groups of KIBS companies.FindingsOver the period 2015-2017, the results show that the average annual growth of the overall Malmquist productivity index was positive in nine Italian regions that represent only 17 per cent of the total KIBS firms selected. On the other side, a decrease of the average performance measure is observed for the five geographic areas that contribute to 75.7 per cent of the total sample. In general, the technological change component, as a measure of innovation, strongly limits the productivity growth behavior of KIBS industry for all geographic regions. The use of selected financial ratio does not provide additional insight to the performance investigation and further in-depth studies are needed to better evaluate the correlation between average productivity results and regional business dynamics.Practical implicationsThe study investigates the applicability of DEA-based Malmquist indices to the analysis of the productivity behavior of KIBS industry at regional level. It will be of value to provide first evidence to the policymakers to understand industry growth pattern in time frame selected and relate them to additional business factors to detect specific industry constraints.Originality/valueThe analysis in this paper contributes to the existing body of knowledge on industry performance measurement by applying specific analytical techniques to the productivity of Italian KIBS companies. The paper also contributes to the limited body of academic literature investigating KIBS industry at national level proposing a methodological framework that constitutes a first attempt to track average productivity behavior at regional level.

Knowledge-Intensive Business Services (KIBS) are seen to be a core sector of the so-called ‘knowledge economy’, and already play an important role in developed economies. They a both innovate themselves and provide their clients with knowledge and learning opportunities. This paper examines the status of KIBS in Russia, and explores some key issues in their role in innovation using data from surveys of KIBS firms and their clients in Russia. We note that KIBS are often highly customized, and many new services prove difficult to replicate. KIBS are closely tailored to solving the problems of specific customers, and thus these services typically involve KIBS consumers in a co-production process. Both the formal supplier and the formal user of the service are engaged together in service production, allowing for mutual knowledge transfers and learning. Using KIBS is shown to affect customers’ propensity to innovate, confirming the importance of this sector for the innovation system.Survey data suggest that the impact on innovation is, as a rule, positive and strong. The propensity to innovate in turn stimulates further consumption of KIBS, which is therefore the start of a self-sustaining growth mechanism of innovation activity. Similar consequences are conceptually associated with knowledge transfer in the course of co-production: consumers get both specialized and general knowledge, improving their skills and increasing the innovative capacities. This enables customers to better understand their own needs and encourages them to consume more customized KIBS in the future, and producing KIBS companies get the opportunity to become effective elements of innovation systems. Authorities should consider the possibility of fostering innovative development by supporting the sector in question.

The economic importance of the Knowledge Intensive Business Services (KIBS) sector is increasing as its direct share of production grows, and as it increasingly provides knowledge inputs to firms in other sectors within more open innovation strategies. This chapter considers the implications for regional policy. It starts by discussing the nature of KIBS and their role in innovation. It then examines the changing scale of KIBS and the extent to which they are regionally concentrated. Key messages from neoclassical growth theory are then set out on the processes through which KIBS can be expected to contribute to regional economic growth, including discussion of potential cumulative causation processes at regional level. The implications of the theory are drawn out in terms of the types of market failures that policy should seek to address and how it may do so. The question is also posed of whether this is largely a field for regional policy or for national innovation policy. The chapter concludes by identifying some important questions for further research.

We study start-ups in Knowledge Intensive Business Services (KIBS) across regions in Sweden by individuals with a formally recognized capacity to produce and develop advanced business services. The empirical analysis is based on a theoretical framework which emphasizes both supply- and demand-side factors. Supply-side variables pertain to accessibility to knowledge and information upon which a new firm can be established. Demand-side variables refer to market-size and pertain to the ability to recover fixed start-up costs and economize on costs associated with face-to-face interaction. 78 percent of the KIBS founders have prior work experience from business services, suggesting that KIBS start-ups are more frequent in regions where the KIBS sector is already large. Controlling for the stock of potential entrepreneurs and the stock KIBS firms, we show that both supply- and demand-side factors influence KIBS start-up activity. Results are consistent with that KIBS start-ups are stimulated by the simultaneous presence of (i) knowledge resources conducive for the generation and diffusion of knowledge and ideas upon which new firms can be established and (ii) a large market. The findings suggest that the geography of KIBS is shaped in cumulative and self-reinforcing processes, and can explain the tendency of KIBS firms to agglomerate in large city-regions.

Dealing with knowledge intensive business services (KIBS) has become an important strategy for many firms. Services that heavily rely on professional knowledge are needed by Japanese manufacturing corporations (JMCs) for solving different problems. This article explores the impact of the utilisation of KIBS on the innovation of JMCs in Japan. The goal of the paper is threefold: first, we focus on the different divisions of JMCs that have dealt with KIBS and analyse the impact of KIBS on their innovation respectively; secondly, we separate the types of innovation into radical innovation and incremental innovation and then analyse what and how the service delivery method contributes to each type of innovation; finally we discuss in more depth the details of an efficient service delivery method. The results show that firstly, KIBS contribute more to the radical innovation of a client rather than incremental innovation; and secondly, face–to–face is the most efficient method of service delivery from KIBS to the JMCs.