Productivity, networks and knowledge flows INTRODUCTION

This introduction to the special issue of EINT surveys a collection of eight papers that study innovation and productivity at the firm level and the industry level for a number of European countries. This focus is supported by the view that an innovating firm can maintain a favourable position in terms of profits, productivity and growth by following a path along which its knowledge-creation efforts have become a regular activity. The performance of an innovating firm is also affected by the firm's accession of external knowledge sources, and this gives firms an incentive to develop innovation networks.