Many businesses choose innovation in order to capture or preserve

market share. But exactly what is innovation? What is its economic

impact?

Innovation introduces something new or different into the

economy-new products, materials, or manufacturing processes,

new services or communication channels, new forms of organization.

In short, innovation is an engine of corporate and economic growth.

This volume contains the full text of the proceedings of the Insee

Business Statistics Directorate's annual seminar held on December

11, 2002. Business executives describe how they innovate.

Statisticians present surveys on business innovation in France and

elsewhere, after spelling out how the concept of innovation should be

understood in different industries. Researchers and economists

analyze the impact of innovation on corporate performance, the

effectiveness of government policies to support innovation, and

intellectual-property issues.