8163.0 - Patterns of Innovation in Australian Businesses, 2005  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 01/11/2007   
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BUSINESS CHARACTERISTICS AND INNOVATION



The 2005 Innovation Survey asks a range of questions related to business characteristics. This chapter examines innovation according to businesses' employment size, ownership structure and length of business operation.



3.1. Business size

As outlined in Appendix 1 - Methodology, the employment classes used in this study are defined according to the following ranges:

  • 5-19 employees as "small" businesses
  • 20-99 employees as "medium" businesses
  • 100 or more as "large" businesses.

About 73% of all businesses (both innovative and non-innovative) were classed as small businesses according to the above classification. Medium sized businesses comprised about 23% and large businesses were about 4% of the businesses surveyed in the 2004 to 2005 period.


For the purpose of this study, business employment size data have been classified into six categories providing a more detailed picture of the differences between the groups. It should be noted that in the "Patterns of Innovation in Australian Businesses 2003" publication, businesses with less than five employees had been included in the business size category "5-9" employees even though the survey was designed to exclude micro-businesses (businesses with employees less than five). A decision was made to include these businesses as they were few in number. For the purpose of comparison with the 2003 publication, this study adopts the same approach, where businesses reporting less than five employees are included in the category "5-9" employees.


In the 2004 to 2005 period (Figure 9), the "100 to 249" employment size group showed a lower proportion when compared to the "20 to 49" and "50 to 99" groups identified in the previous survey. In the 2002 to 2003 calendar year period, an approximate linear relationship was identified between business size and innovation. A chi-square test result indicated that the employment size may have an influence on innovation activity of a business (see Appendix 2, Table A1). It is worth noting that the DITR "Collaboration and Other Factors Influencing Innovation Novelty in Australian Businesses" (2006) found that smaller businesses are less likely to achieve high degrees of innovation novelty than larger businesses using data from the Innovation Survey 2003 (Summary and Conclusions, page vi)

Figure 9: Proportion of Innovating Businesses by Employment Size, 2004 to 2005 Calendar Years
Graph: Figure 9: Proportion of Innovating Businesses by Employment Size, 2004 to 2005 Calendar Years



Table 7 is a breakdown of the information shown in Figure 9 by the type of innovation in each business size. The proportion of new organisational processes dominated in the majority of employment groups for innovating businesses. Large businesses reported the largest proportion of organisational innovation compared to the other businesses sizes.

Table 7:Proportion of Innovating Businesses by Type of Innovation and Employment Size - 2004 to 2005(a)

Goods or services
Operational process
Organisational process
%
%
%

5-9
14
13
18
10-19
19
23
25
20-49
29
35
37
50-99
32
34
^31
100-249
26
24
^37
250 or more
^32
^46
^43
Total
19
22
25

^ estimate has a relative standard error of 10% to less than 25% and should be used with caution
(a) Calendar years


As noted at the beginning of this chapter, about 73% of all businesses in the 2004 to 2005 calendar years were classed as small businesses. However, as shown in Figure 9 and Table 7, the proportion of small businesses engaged in innovation is lower compared to the proportions for large businesses.


Table 8 provides a summary of the estimated total number of businesses and the proportions of innovating businesses under each employment size group. Out of about 2,700 estimated total businesses with "250 or more" employees, 58% of these businesses were innovating. The medium businesses ("20 to 49" and "50 to 99" employees) had 46% and 48% of businesses respectively innovating. The total estimated number of businesses under these categories was about 26,000 and 6,300 respectively. The businesses with "5 to 9" employees and "10 to 19" employees had 65,300 and 38,100 total estimated number of businesses. Only 25% and 34% respectively of them were involved in innovation.

Table 8: Estimated Total Number and Proportion of Innovating Businesses (a), by Employment Size - 2004 to 2005(b)

Total estimated businesses
% of innovating businesses
no.
%

Employment size
5-9
65 300
25
10-19
38 100
34
20-49
26 000
46
50-99
6 300
^48
100-249
2 900
^45
250 or more
2 700
^58
Total
141 300
34

^ estimate has a relative standard error of 10% to less than 25% and should be used with caution
(a) Total number of businesses rounded to the nearest 100
(b) Calendar years


Table 9 shows the proportions of innovating businesses according to the employment sizes small, medium and large, across industry divisions. The Electricity, gas and water, Finance and insurance and Communication services divisions recorded over 70% of innovating businesses with 100 or more employees (large businesses). The total numbers of estimated businesses in each of these industries in the large business category were about 70, 300 and 50 respectively. Retail trade had the lowest proportion (about 20%) of innovating businesses in the large business category which had about 900 estimated large businesses. The proportion of small businesses (employees less than 19) which were innovative ranged from 24% (in Property and business services) to 39% (Wholesale trade). In Retail trade, medium size businesses (between 20 and 99 employees) recorded the highest proportion of businesses undertaking innovation out of about 4,000 total estimated businesses.

Table 9:Proportion of Innovating Businesses by Employment Size by Industry(a) - 2004 to 2005(b)

Small businesses
Medium businesses
Large businesses
%
%
%

Mining
^26
^27
57
Manufacturing
36
50
64
Electricity, gas & water supply
^30
^39
75
Construction
28
^38
* -
Wholesale trade
^39
^51
^56
Retail trade
25
*46
^20
Accommodation, cafes & restaurants
^33
^39
*47
Transport & storage
28
^46
^42
Communication services
^26
^39
^70
Finance & Insurance
32
^49
^74
Property & Business services
24
^53
^59
Cultural & Recreational services
30
^41
^43
Total
28
47
51

^ estimate has a relative standard error of 10% to less than 25% and should be used with caution
* estimate has a relative standard error of 25% to 50% and should be used with caution
- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
(a) Industry refers to ANZSIC division
(b) Calendar years


Table 10 shows innovating businesses in each state by employment size. The Australian Capital Territory recorded the highest proportion of innovative large businesses (about 77%). In New South Wales, out of about 1,910 large businesses, about 60% were innovative. Queensland recorded about 63% innovating businesses out of about 750 large businesses, whereas Victoria recorded an innovation proportion of 43% from 1,800 estimated large businesses. The total number of small businesses was greater than the total number of medium and large businesses. However, the proportion of innovating businesses ranged between 24% and 36% in all States and Territories. Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory had higher proportions of medium sized businesses undertaking innovation compared to the other business sizes. Tasmania had less than 50% innovating businesses in all business sizes.

Table 10:Distribution of Innovating Businesses by Employment Size by State/Territory(a) - 2004 to 2005(b)

Small businesses
Medium businesses
Large businesses
Total businesses
Proportion of businesses
Total businesses
Proportion of businesses
Total businesses
Proportion of businesses
no.
%
no.
%
no.
%

State/Territory
NSW
38 210
27
9 480
^42
1 910
^60
Vic
25 550
29
8 410
^50
1 800
^43
Qld
18 980
29
6 630
^44
750
^63
SA
6 050
^36
2 700
^50
360
^43
WA
9 690
^30
3 750
^56
560
^36
Tas
1 980
^25
610
*44
90
^48
NT
1 050
^27
240
*53
30
^57
ACT
1 910
^24
450
*38
70
^77
Total
103 420
28
32 270
47
5 570
52

^ estimate has a relative standard error of 10% to less than 25% and should be used with caution
* estimate has a relative standard error of 25% to 50% and should be used with caution
(a) Total number of businesses is rounded to the nearest 10
(b) Calendar years


Table 11 shows how goods or services innovation novelty varies across the business sizes. "New to business" innovation in goods or services was the largest compared to other innovation novelties by business sizes. Table 7 showed that innovation proportions were more than double for larger businesses compared to small businesses. However, in terms of innovation novelty, businesses in the "5 to 9" employees category and the "250+" employees category showed similar proportions in each innovation novelty especially "New to the world" and "New to Australia". The "10 to 19" employees category also showed reasonably similar proportions to these business sizes.


The proportion of "New to the world" innovation for goods or services was consistent across all business categories (ranging between 6% and 11%) in 2004 to 2005. Businesses in the "50 to 99" employees category recorded the highest proportion (about 20%) of "New to Australia" goods or services. A chi-square test indicated that the business size may have an influence on the degree of novelty in goods or services innovation (see Appendix 2, Table A1).

Table 11: Novelty of Goods or Services Innovation for Businesses, by Employment Size - 2002 to 2003 and 2004 to 2005(a)

New to business
New to industry
New to Australia
New to the world
%
%
%
%

2004 to 2005

5-9
^80
6
7
7
10-19
^74
5
14
8
20-49
^73
^12
6
9
50-99
^60
^14
^20
6
100-249
^67
13
14
6
250 or more
^63
8
18
11
Total
74
8
10
8

2002 to 2003

5-9
^60
19
11
10
10-19
^63
10
^16
^11
20-49
^39
^22
^26
13
50-99
^58
^20
^16
6
100-249
^38
17
^37
8
250 or more
^40
^23
^26
11
Total
55
16
18
11

^ estimate has a relative standard error of 10% to less than 25% and should be used with caution
(a) Calendar years


Table 11 also shows the proportion of the novelty of goods or services innovation by employment size for the 2002 to 2003 calendar years. Compared with the 2004 to 2005 calendar years, the novelty data has proportions of "New to the business" that were lower, ranging from about 38% to 63%. In contrast, the remaining novelties in innovation for goods or services recorded higher proportions compared to those in the 2004 to 2005 calendar years.


Table 12 shows the proportion of novelty of innovation in operational process for each business size category. Similar to the novelty of goods or service innovation, "New to the business" novelty in operational processes was higher than the other types of innovation novelty for operational processes. The proportion of "New to the world" operational processes innovation was negligible (less than 1%) for some business size categories. The highest proportion of "New to the world" operation processes innovation reported was about 4% in the "100 to 249 employees" category in 2004 to 2005. A chi-square test revealed that the business size may have an influence on the degree of novelty in process innovation (see Appendix 2, Table A1).

Table 12: Novelty of Operational Process Innovation for Businesses , by Employment Size(a) - 2002 to 2003 and 2004 to 2005(b)

New to business
New to industry
New to Australia
New to the world
%
%
%
%

2004 to 2005

5-9
87
10
2
1
10-19
92
5
2
1
20-49
85
12
3
-
50-99
^82
8
^10
1
100-249
81
7
8
4
250 or more
80
8
9
3
Total
87
9
3
1

2002 to 2003

5-9
80
16
1
3
10-19
82
13
4
1
20-49
^69
^22
5
4
50-99
^60
^30
7
3
100-249
^58
16
^24
2
250 or more
65
15
16
4
Total
75
17
5
3

^ estimate has a relative standard error of 10% to less than 25% and should be used with caution
- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
(a) Proportion of businesses with 'New to the world' operational process less than 1% have not been included in the table
(b) Calendar years


In contrast to the data shown in Table 12 for 2004 to 2005, "New to business" novelty in the 2002 to 2003 period showed a large variation in proportions, ranging from 58% to 82%. "New to the world" operational processes innovation ranged from 1% to 4%. In contrast to the 2004 to 2005 period, "New to the industry" operational processes innovation reported higher proportions ranging from 13% to 30% in the 2002 to 2003 period. The highest proportion of "New to the world" innovation was identified in the "20-49" and "250 or more" employee businesses.


Table 13 summarises how turnover is attributed to new goods or services innovation in each size of business. It was noted that turnover "Greater than 50%" for large businesses was negligible or zero percent. In contrast, 12% of small businesses (between 5 and 19 employees) had turnover Greater than 50% attributed to new goods or services innovation. Medium businesses (between 20 and 99 employees) had similar proportions of turnover attributed to new goods or services innovation as those for large businesses.

Table 13:Proportion of Businesses (a), by Share of Turnover Attributed to New Goods or Services Innovation by Size of Business - 2004-05(b)

Share of Turnover attributed to new goods or services
10% or less
Greater than 10% to 25%
Greater than 25% to 50%
Greater than 50%
%
%
%
%

Small (5 to 19 employees)
59
24
5
12
Medium (20 to 99 employees)
73
19
7
1
Large (100 + employees)
77
17
5
-

- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
(a) Proportion related to Innovating Businesses Only
(b) Financial year



3.2 Foreign ownership

The question on foreign ownership in the 2005 Innovation Survey asked businesses to report the percentage of ordinary shares or voting stock held by non-residents of Australia as at 31 December 2005. The total number of businesses with "No foreign ownership" (wholly Australian owned) employing five or more persons has increased since 2003 by about 4% from about 128,500 to about 133,300 in 2004 & 2005 calendar years. The total proportion of businesses with "No foreign ownership" was about 94% while businesses with foreign ownership "Greater than 50%" was about 4% from the total estimated number of businesses.


Table 14 shows the proportions of innovating businesses with various degrees of foreign ownership as at December 2005. A chi-square test indicated that the degree of foreign ownership may have an influence on the type of innovation (see Appendix 2, Table A1).

Table 14:Proportion of Innovating Businesses , by Type of Innovation and Degree of Foreign Ownership - 2004 to 2005(a)

Goods or services
Operational process
Organisational process
Any innovation
%
%
%
%

No foreign ownership
19
21
24
32
Between 1% and 9%
9
*29
*37
*41
Between 10% and 50%
^28
^35
^52
^59
Greater than 50%
32
^32
^47
^56
Total
19
22
25
33

^ estimate has a relative standard error of 10% to less than 25% and should be used with caution
* estimate has a relative standard error of 25% to 50% and should be used with caution
(a) Calendar years


Table 15 summarises the proportions of innovating businesses by foreign ownership category by State/Territory.


Businesses with "No foreign ownership" outnumbered other ownership categories in all States and Territories. The proportion of innovating businesses with "No foreign ownership" ranged between 27% (in the Australian Capital Territory) and 40% (in South Australia). New South Wales and Victoria had a larger number of the estimated total of businesses with "Greater than 50%" foreign ownership and more than 60% of them were innovators. Queensland also showed a similar trend, that is, out of a total 430 businesses with "Greater than 50%" foreign ownership, about 58% were innovators. Western Australia had a total of 580 businesses with "Greater than 50%" foreign ownership and about 16% of them were innovators.


In New South Wales, 68% of the businesses (out of 580 businesses) were innovators in the "Between 10% and 50%" foreign ownership category. Queensland recorded 94% of innovating businesses out of 60 businesses in the "Between 1% and 9%" foreign ownership category.

Table 15: Degree of Foreign Ownership of Innovating Businesses (a), by State/Territory(a) - 2004 to 2005(b)

No foreign ownership
Between 1% and 9%
Between 10% and 50%
Greater than 50%
Total businesses
Proportion of businesses
Total businesses
Proportion of businesses
Total businesses
Proportion of businesses
Total businesses
Proportion of businesses
no.
%
no.
%
no.
%
no.
%

NSW
45 910
29
530
**40
580
*68
2 580
^60
Vic
33 170
33
160
*18
310
*31
2 130
^62
Qld
25 760
33
60
^94
110
*66
430
*58
SA
8 840
^40
np
np
np
np
160
^49
WA
13 270
^38
70
*53
90
*73
580
*16
Tas
2 630
^30
np
np
np
np
20
^39
NT
1 300
^32
np
np
np
np
np
np
ACT
2 400
^27
np
np
np
np
np
np
Total
133 280
32
870
*41
1 150
^59
5 940
^56

^ estimate has a relative standard error of 10% to less than 25% and should be used with caution
* estimate has a relative standard error of 25% to 50% and should be used with caution
** estimate has a relative standard error greater than 50% and is considered too unreliable for general use
np not available for publication but included in totals where applicable, unless otherwise indicated
(a) Total number of estimated businesses is rounded to the nearest 10
(b) Calendar years


Table 16 shows the levels of foreign ownership for innovating businesses by ANZSIC division. All industries recorded more than 50% in the "No foreign ownership" category. The communication services industry recorded the highest proportion (about 23%) of "Greater than 50%" foreign ownership across all industries.

Table 16:Proportion of Innovating Businesses , by Degree of Foreign Ownership by Industry(a)(b)(c) - 2004 to 2005(d)

No foreign ownership
Between 1% and 9%
Between 10% and 50%
Greater than 50%
%
%
%
%

Mining
^53
^12
^18
^17
Manufacturing
89
-
-
8
Electricity, gas & water supply
85
-
-
9
Construction
99
-
-
-
Wholesale trade
83
1
2
14
Retail trade
95
-
-
5
Accommodation, cafes & restaurants
95
-
-
3
Transport & storage
^83
-
-
^14
Communication services
^73
2
2
23
Finance & Insurance
86
-
-
10
Property & Business services
91
1
2
6
Cultural & Recreational services
95
-
-
4
Total
91
1
1
7

^ estimate has a relative standard error of 10% to less than 25% and should be used with caution
- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
(a) Industry refers to ANZSIC division
(b) Proportion of innovating businesses less than 1% are not included
(c) Sample size of businesses surveyed less than 5 are not included due to confidentiality
(d) Calendar years


Table 17 shows the degree of novelty of goods or services for innovating businesses by foreign ownership category. "New to the business" novelty was the highest novelty in all ownership groups. "New to Australia" novelty recorded the highest proportion (about 28%) in the "Between 1% and 9%" foreign ownership group. In the 2002 to 2003 period, the "Between 10% and 50%" foreign ownership group had the highest proportion of innovators (about 43%).


In contrast with the 2002 to 2003 period, "New to the world" novelty in the foreign ownership groups "Between 1% and 9%" and "Between 10% and 50%" both increased in the 2004 to 2005 period, while the other two categories decreased (Table 13). Although it is expected that higher levels of foreign ownership might enhance a business's ability to innovate, the proportion of "Greater than 50%" foreign ownership category showed lower levels of innovation since the 2002 to 2003 period. The estimated total number of businesses in this category has fallen from 300 to about 200 since the 2002 to 2003 period. However, the total number of estimated businesses introducing or implementing "New to the business" goods or services innovation has doubled during this period.

Table 17: Novelty of Goods or Services Innovation, by Degree of Foreign Ownership - 2002 to 2003 and 2004 to 2005(a)

No foreign ownership
Between 1% and 9%
Between 10% and 50%
Greater than 50%
%
%
%
%

2004 to 2005

New to business
74
^45
*71
^71
New to industry
9
6
^4
5
New to Australia
10
^28
7
^13
New to the world
7
21
^18
^11

2002 to 2003

New to business
56
*75
*30
^47
New to industry
17
^6
*24
9
New to Australia
17
^13
*43
^23
New to the world
10
^6
3
^21

^ estimate has a relative standard error of 10% to less than 25% and should be used with caution
* estimate has a relative standard error of 25% to 50% and should be used with caution
(a) Calendar years


"New to business" novelty of operational process innovation also showed higher proportions in the four foreign ownership groups, ranging between 78% and 88% (Table 18). "New to the industry" novelty recorded the highest proportion (about 13%) in the "Between 10% and 50%" foreign ownership group. "New to Australia" novelty had similar proportions (about 3% and 5% respectively) in the "Between 10% and 50%" and "Greater than 50%" foreign ownership category. In the 2002 to 2003 calendar years, this was about 14% and 20%. A chi-square test result suggested that the foreign ownership could have an influence on the degree of novelty in operational process innovation (see Appendix 2, Table A1).


"New to the world" novelty of operational processes innovation did not show any considerable movement since the 2002 to 2003 period. However, the proportion of "New to the world" novelty in the "Greater than 50%" foreign ownership category has dropped from 3% to 1% from the 2002 to 2003 period (Table 18). The estimated total numbers of businesses with "Greater than 50% foreign ownership" and who are introducing or implementing new operational processes innovation have slightly increased in "New to the business" and "New to the industry" novelties since the 2002 to 2003 calendar years.

Table 18:Novelty of Operational Process Innovation , by Degree of Foreign Ownership - 2002 to 2003 and 2004 to 2005(a)

No foreign ownership
Between 1% and 9%
Between 10% and 50%
Greater than 50%
%
%
%
%

2004 to 2005

New to business
88
^87
^78
^83
New to industry
9
7
^13
^11
New to Australia
3
3
3
5
New to the world
-
3
^6
1

2002 to 2003

New to business
76
*80
^67
^70
New to industry
18
^10
^13
7
New to Australia
3
^7
^14
^20
New to the world
3
3
6
3

^ estimate has a relative standard error of 10% to less than 25% and should be used with caution
* estimate has a relative standard error of 25% to 50% and should be used with caution
- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
(a) Calendar years



3.3. Age of the business under current ownership

The age of the business under current ownership is used by many analysts as an indicator of the potential innovative capabilities of the business. As a result, the 2005 Innovation Survey asked a question on the age of the business under current ownership as at 31 December 2005. This section of the paper examines whether there is a relationship between the age of the businesses and innovation activity.


Table 19 shows the variation in the proportion of innovation activity according to the age of the business under current ownership. The overall innovation proportion did not show a large variation and ranged between 31% ("9 years or more") and 38% ("1 year to less than 4 years"). In the 2001 to 2003 calendar year period, businesses in the "Less than 1 year" group was less than 25%. In the 2004 to 2005 period, it is about 35%, indicating that more new businesses have engaged in innovation activities especially new organisational processes since the 2003 Innovation Survey period.

Table 19:Proportion of Innovating Businesses by Type of Innovation and Age of Business - 2004 to 2005(a)

Goods or services
Operational process
Organisational process
Any innovation
%
%
%
%

Total
Less than 1 year
^23
^21
^29
^35
Between 1 and 4 years
21
23
31
38
Between 4 and 9 years
24
23
27
36
9 years or more
17
21
22
31
Total
19
22
25
33

^ estimate has a relative standard error of 10% to less than 25% and should be used with caution
(a) Calendar years


Table 20 summarises the estimated total number of businesses and proportions of innovating businesses in each State/Territory under each age category. Nearly half of the "1 to less than 4 years" old businesses in Queensland were undertaking innovation. Western Australia had approximately 45% of businesses innovating in each age group excluding those with "9 or more years" under current ownership.

Table 20:Innovating Businesses by Age Under Current Ownership(a), by State/Territory - 2004 to 2005(b)

Less than 1 year
1 year to less than 4 years
4 years to less than 9 years
9 years or more
Total businesses
Proportion of businesses
Total businesses
Proportion of businesses
Total businesses
Proportion of businesses
Total businesses
Proportion of businesses
no.
%
no.
%
no.
%
no.
%

NSW
2 800
^31
8 300
28
10 300
^37
28 200
30
Vic
2 500
^34
5 100
^39
7 000
^31
21 200
34
Qld
1 600
^33
5 100
^49
5 300
^33
14 400
^28
SA
700
*39
1 700
*40
1 600
*55
5 100
^36
WA
900
**44
3 000
^45
3 100
^46
7 000
^29
Tas
200
**88
200
*48
900
*14
1 400
^28
NT
np
np
np
np
100
*51
800
^30
ACT
np
np
np
np
800
^25
900
^38
Total
9 000
^35
24 200
38
29 100
36
79 000
31

^ estimate has a relative standard error of 10% to less than 25% and should be used with caution
* estimate has a relative standard error of 25% to 50% and should be used with caution
** estimate has a relative standard error greater than 50% and is considered too unreliable for general use
np not available for publication but included in totals where applicable, unless otherwise indicated
(a) Total number of estimated businesses is rounded to the nearest 100
(b) Calendar years


Table 21 shows the distribution of innovating businesses across industries by each business age category. Retail trade had the largest proportion (about 65%) of innovating businesses with current ownership "Less than 1 year". It had about 21% of businesses undertaking innovation in the "9 years or more" category. This indicates that more businesses in Retail trade are undertaking innovation in their first year of operation under current ownership. Wholesale trade, Electricity, gas and water services, and Manufacturing industry divisions recorded over 40% of innovating businesses with current ownership over nine years, indicating that these industries continue to be innovative over time.


The Finance and insurance services industry also recorded a higher proportion (about 54%) of innovating businesses with current ownership "Less than 1 year". However, the industry had innovating businesses with a proportion greater than 30% in the other age categories, indicating that the industry has established innovating businesses over a long period. The Mining industry showed the lowest proportion (about 6%) of businesses entering into the innovation field where current ownership was "Less than 1 year". However the mining industry had more established innovating businesses with more than 30% of innovating businesses each in each age group "Greater than one year" under current ownership.

Table 21:Proportion of Innovating Businesses by Industry, (a), and Age of Business Under Current Ownership - 2004 to 2005(b)

Less than
1 year
1 year to less
than 4 years
4 years to less
than 9 years
9 years or
more
%
%
%
%

Mining
6
^33
^43
^32
Manufacturing
^36
56
40
40
Electricity, gas & water supply
^23
^60
^55
45
Construction
*31
^20
^40
32
Wholesale trade
**45
*37
^35
^46
Retail trade
*65
^39
^27
21
Accommodation, cafes & restaurants
*38
^43
^35
^31
Transport & storage
*35
^30
^34
35
Communication services
^29
^33
^47
^32
Finance & Insurance
^54
^44
^35
34
Property & Business services
^13
^35
^39
26
Cultural & Recreational services
**37
^44
^40
28
Total
^35
38
36
31

^ estimate has a relative standard error of 10% to less than 25% and should be used with caution
* estimate has a relative standard error of 25% to 50% and should be used with caution
** estimate has a relative standard error greater than 50% and is considered too unreliable for general use
(a) Industry refers to ANZSIC division
(b) Calendar years



3.4 Collaboration by innovating businesses

For businesses that undertake innovation, an important characteristic is whether they undertake any form of collaboration with other businesses. Data from the 2003 and 2005 Innovation Surveys has indicated that the proportion of collaboration for innovating businesses has remained relatively constant between the 2004 to 2005 calendar year period (26% of innovating businesses undertook any form of collaboration) and the 2003 calendar year period (27% of innovating businesses were involved in collaboration).


In the 2005 Innovation Survey it was found that 26% of innovating businesses were engaged in some form of collaboration. Out of these, only about 3% were engaged in collaboration with government organisations and about 2% were engaged in collaboration with Universities and other higher education institutes. Collaboration with overseas organisation was less than 1%.


In terms of collaboration amongst innovating businesses by employment size of the business, the collaboration proportion for businesses with 100 or more persons declined by 5.3 percentage points between the two reference periods. In contrast, the collaboration proportion for innovating businesses with 20-99 persons increased by 3.9 percentage points. The proportion of collaboration for innovating businesses with 5-19 persons showed a slight decline of 0.6 of a percentage point.


Further work could be undertaken to identify the importance of collaborative activities as part of the overall innovation system.