MSI Discussion Paper MSI_2407

Given the importance of innovation for economic growth, many countries conduct innovation surveys. International guidelines for such measurement have been established (OECD/Eurostat, 2018). The European Commission has made the measurement of innovation mandatory for EU member states. Many differences remain, however, between countries in the practical implementation of measuring innovation at the firm level, which complicates cross-country comparability. We conducted a randomized experiment in which we randomly assigned enterprises a long or a short form for measuring their innovation activities. We found clear differences between the two types of forms. We discuss implications of this work and put this in the broader perspective of other work done investigating questionnaire design issues in innovation surveys.