Examining Differences between TBF1 and HMT2 sectors in the context of developing countries

Abstract: The paper draws on results from the first round on innovation survey in Iran in order to examine the extent of differences among High-Medium-Tech sectors with Technology-Based-Firms (TBFs). Although the differences between HMT and LMT sectors have been examined widely before, the comparison between HMT and TBFs could not be operationalized before because of lack of adequate data. This comparison is made possible by an interesting database generated in this specific context. We found that the main difference between them lies in reliance of TBFs on STI mode of innovation, given that HMT sectors in this context do not show the similar pattern. However, their behavior in market look likes very similar. We suggested that the context of a developing country like Iran heavily impact the under-establishment status of advanced sectors, although TBFs in this context struggle to maintain their connections with the world of science and technology. Moreover, this context pushes them to stay far from customer interactions that in turn enhance the purity of STI mode of innovation.