An essential part of the catching-up process by firms in late industrialising countries is the development of technological capabilities. It can be assumed that these capabilities correlate with firms’ innovation activities (including cooperation with external partners). At the same time, it can be assumed that the quality of the national or regional innovation system influences the development of firms’ technological capabilities. Consequently, this article compares groups of firms with different technological capabilities in three innovation systems. Analysing innovation activities, cooperation behaviour and the perception of the business environment, conspicuous differences between the innovation systems are found. Contrary, the comparison of the different technological capability-groups brings about less conclusive results, which indicate only a limited interrelation between technological capabilities and innovation-related activities.
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