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HowInnovativeareServices?AnEmpiricalAnalysisforSpainJOSE´A.CAMACHOandMERCEDESRODRI´GUEZTherelevanceofinnovationasanengineofeconomicgrowthhasneverbeendenied,butthemainemphasishastypicallybeenplacedonthemanufacturingsector.Akeystepinthisdirectionisthecarryingoutofinnovationsurveysthatincludethetertiarysector.Alongtheselines,theaimofthisarticleistoprovideevidenceabouttheinnovativecharac-terofservicesinSpain.DrawingontheThirdCommunityInnovationSurvey(CIS3)forSpain,weusefactorandclusteranalysestodemon-stratethatservicesdoinnovate,andtolocatetheseactivitiesintheproductionsystem.INTRODUCTIONTheeconomicenvironmenthasundergoneprofoundmodificationsinrecentyears;mostofthemdrivenbytherevolutionininformationandcommunicationtechnol-ogies(ICTs),and,ingeneral,bytheemergenceofaknowledge-basedeconomy,whereknowledge,morethanever,hasbecomethekeyinputtosuccess.Inthisevolvingcontext,theservicesectorhasalsobeenalteredandshiftedfromthe‘darknesssite’inthewordsofGallouj[2002a]toturnintothecentreofattentionofagreatnumberofanalyses.Inthisnewposition,thereisanaspectthathasbeenespeciallyaffected:itsinnovativecharacter.Fromassimilationtodemarcation,theoreticalperspectivesareconverging,andthesynthesisapproachistheonethatseems‘tobeontherighttrack’.Nevertheless,inspiteofthesechangesandthecentralrolethattheservicesectorplays,SpainhasnothadanydataabouttheinnovativeperformanceofservicesuntiltherecentappearanceoftheCIS3carriedoutbytheSpanishStatisticalInstitute(INE).Thissurvey,fortheveryfirsttimeinSpain,includesthetertiarybranchesinaninnovationsurvey.Giventhenoveltyandrichnessofthisnewsourceofinformation,theaimofthisarticleistoempiricallyexploretheinnovativecharacterofservicesinSpain,payingspecialattentiontotheirparticularfeaturesandtryingtolocatethemintheproductionsystem.Jose´A.CamachoandMercedesRodrı´guezareintheDepartmentofAppliedEconomics,UniversityofGranada,CampusUniversitariodeCartujas/n,E-18071Granada,Spain.TheServiceIndustriesJournal,Vol.25,No.2,March2005,pp.253–271ISSN0264-2069print/1743-9507onlineDOI:10.1080/0264206042000305448#2005Taylor&FrancisLtd.Thestructureemployedisthefollowing:inthefirstplace,webrieflyreviewtheevolutionofthedifferenttheoriesaboutinnovationinservices,startingfromthepioneercontributionsofGershunyandBarrasorthefirstattemptstoelaboratetaxonomies[Pavitt,RobsonandTowsend,1989;SoeteandMiozzo,1990],andcon-tinuingwiththemostrecentmodels,suchasthoseofEvangelistaandSavona[1998],Gallouj[2002a,b],GalloujandWeinstein[1997],orWindrum[2002].Inthesecondsectionwedescribethethreemaincurrentperspectivesaboutinnovationinservices:assimilation,demarcationandsynthesis,andhowthelatterisgaininginimportancenowadays.Inlinewiththisposition,whichmaintainsthatservicesareneithertotallydifferentfrommanufacturingnorsharethesamecharacteristics,inthethirdpartweconcentrateonthesituationofservicesintheproductionsystemfromthepointofviewofinnovation,takingasteptowardstheelaborationofataxonomyaboutinno-vationintheSpanishservices,likethosecarriedoutinthecaseofItaly[EvangelistaandSavona,1998;Evangelista,2000]andSwitzerland[Hollenstein,2003].Themethodologiesusedarefactorandclusteranalyses.Thefourthsectionentersdeeplyintothe‘empirics’oftheinnovativeperformanceofSpanishtertiarybranches,differentiatingthreebasicaspects:innovation(technologicalversusnon-technologi-cal),innovationeffort(intensityanddistribution,toknowwhicharethe‘sources’ofinnovationinservices)and,lastly,thefeaturesor‘patterns’oftheinnovativeper-formance(cooperation,barriersandobjectives).Wefinishbypointingoutthemostrelevantconclusions.SOMETHEORETICALNOTESABOUTINNOVATIONINSERVICESServiceshavetraditionallybeenconsidered‘laggards’intherealmofinnovation,andgoodproofofthisisthatthefirstanalysesabouttheroleofservicesininnovationappearedonly20yearsago,whenauthorslikeGershunyandBarrasindicatedthepotentialimpactoftheuseofnewtechnologiesbyservices.Though,itwasinthelastdecadeofthe1990sthatthefirstattemptsattheestablishmentofsomekindofpatternsemerged,resultingintaxonomiesabouttertiaryinnovation[SoeteandMiozzo,1990;EvangelistaandSavona,1998;Evangelista,2000;GalloujandWeinstein,1997;GalloujandGallouj,2000;Gallouj,2002a,b,c].Thefirstconsiderationsabouttheinnovativepotentialofserviceswererestrictedtotheirroleasusersofnewtechnologies.Forexample,Gershuny[GershunyandMiles,1983]wasoneofthepioneersinpointingoutthepossibilitythatnewinfor-mationandcommunicationtechnologies(ICTs)changeservices’costsandquality,duetothe‘information’componentsofmostservices,whichweretheidealbreedinggroundfortheintroductionofICTs.Inthisway,atleastthesecomponentswouldshowgainsinefficiencyandquality.ThisinterestintherelationbetweenservicesandICTswastakenupagainbyRichardBarras[1986,1990],who,centringonICT-basedinnovationsinservices,proposedaconceptualmodelaboutthephasesintheuseofICTinservices,ratherthanamodelofinnovationinservices.Barrasintroducedthe‘reverseproductcycle’tounderlinethat,asaresultoftheinformationintensityofservices,the254THESERVICEINDUSTRIESJOURNALinnovationhasspecialcharacteristicsthattranslateintoaproductcycle‘reverse’ascomparedtoth