What we should know about knowledge-intensive business services

The term “knowledge-business intensive services” (KIBS) has been in use for more than 15 years, but has recently become an important subject of analysis and empirical investigation. Beginning with a literature review, this paper presents and discusses the features of KIBS and their role in innovation systems. The following questions are considered: (1) how are KIBS defined? (2) how have KIBS been investigated empirically? and (3) how have the dimensions of knowledge, innovation, and spatial proximity been integrated into analysis?