The sources and success of innovations —Determinants of commercialisation and break-even times

Successful innovation is typically defined at the firm level using indicators such as market shares, productivity, or profitability. Nonetheless, firms are typically simultaneously involved in many innovation development projects which produce varying levels of success. This paper defines the success of innovations through the time taken for the innovations to reach commercialisation and break-even, and investigates the relationships between the sources and success of innovations using a unique database of Finnish innovations commercialised during the 1980s and 1990s. The paper contributes to previous research by covering a range of different types of innovations from various industries, and by applying duration analysis.