External ownership and innovation in the United Kingdom

This paper examines the impact of ownership and a variety of other variable s on the likelihood of innovation and the presence of an R&D function withi n a national sample of UK defence related firms. It is shown that foreign o wnership has a negative indirect impact upon innovation. Mixed support is f ound for the Schumpeterian approach to innovation. Involvement in export ma rkets, technological opportunity and R&D collaboration are shown to have a positive impact on innovation.