The paper elaborates on the innovativeness of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Poland from the regional perspective. The empirical evidence is based on data collected among 820 Polish SMEs which actively use ICT tools in their business processes. Identifying firm-level (internal) and regional drivers of innovations in these enterprises was the main aim of this study. The originality of the utilized research approach lies in combining within one framework firm-level data with meso data describing the innovative potential of the regional environment and using multilevel random-effects models to analyze the relevance of firm-level and regional drivers of SMEs’ innovativeness. By deploying a regional random effects approach, we assessed indirectly the effectiveness of innovation policies conducted in Polish NUTS 2 regions within a RIS and S3 framework. Interestingly, the research hypothesis, stating that regional (external) factors are more important to enhance innovativeness of SME than firm-level (internal) drivers, was verified negatively. The study revealed that SMEs in less-developed regions of Poland rely more on in-house capabilities, than on the regional innovative potential, to introduce different types of innovations. This suggests that the S3 framework in less-developed regions should concentrate more on linking firm-level factors and regional innovation systems to enhance companies’ innovation capacity.

中文翻译：

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波兰中小企业的企业层面因素和区域创新能力的作用

本文从区域角度阐述了波兰中小企业的创新性。经验证据基于在820家波兰SME中收集的数据，这些中小企业在其业务流程中积极使用ICT工具。识别这些企业中公司层面（内部）和区域创新的驱动力是本研究的主要目的。所采用研究方法的独创性在于将企业级数据与描述区域环境创新潜力的中观数据整合在一个框架内，并使用多层随机效应模型来分析企业级和区域性中小企业创新驱动力的相关性。通过部署区域随机效应方法，我们在RIS和S3框架内间接评估了在波兰NUTS 2地区实施的创新政策的有效性。有趣的是，该研究假设得到了否定的证实，该假设表明，区域（外部）因素对增强中小企业的创新性比企业（内部）驱动因素更为重要。该研究表明，波兰欠发达地区的中小型企业在引入不同类型的创新方面更多地依靠内部能力，而不是区域创新潜力。这表明欠发达地区的S3框架应更多地集中于将公司层面的因素和区域创新系统联系起来，以增强公司的创新能力。负面证实，指出区域（外部）因素对增强中小企业创新能力比企业（内部）驱动力更为重要。该研究表明，波兰欠发达地区的中小型企业在引入不同类型的创新方面更多地依靠内部能力，而不是区域创新潜力。这表明欠发达地区的S3框架应更多地集中于将公司层面的因素与区域创新系统联系起来，以增强公司的创新能力。负面证实，指出区域（外部）因素对增强中小企业创新能力比企业（内部）驱动力更为重要。该研究表明，波兰欠发达地区的中小型企业在引入不同类型的创新方面更多地依靠内部能力，而不是区域创新潜力。这表明欠发达地区的S3框架应更多地集中于将公司层面的因素与区域创新系统联系起来，以增强公司的创新能力。