A Comparative Analysis of the Determinants of Innovation Behaviour Between Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire and Senegal
A Comparative Analysis of the Determinants of Innovation Behaviour Between Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire and Senegal

Summary/Abstract: As a result of the globalization shock, the new world economic vision and competition from new emerging markets, industrialized countries are shifting their production towards more sophisticated goods with a high technological content and make innovation capacity the main element of international competition. In this new era, the economic systems of developing countries are under increasing pressure characterized by the complexity of cross-border networks and trade flows. Thus, the integration of the race to innovation through the acquisition of these technological and non-technological flows by companies then becomes a vital issue in order to close this gap. This study highlights the determinants of innovation behavior in three French speaking Sub-Sahara African countries (Cameroon, Senegal and the Ivory Coast) based on data from the «The Determinants of the Business Performance in French SubSaharan Africa: The Case of Cameroon, the Ivory Coast and Senegal» carried out in 2014 in the three target countries with the collaboration of the International Development Research Center (IDRC). The econometric analysis using a Tobit II type model shows that the main determinants of the innovation behavior of firms are: market impulse, technological impulse, competition pressure, inter-firm cooperation, the use of ICT, and the abilities of the entrepreneur in the management of innovation activities. However, Cameroonian companies unlike the others, rely much more on information from the market and the group they belong to in order to engage in innovation activities. On the other hand, those of Senegal are more engaged in innovation activities if they are under international competition pressure. As for those of the Ivory Coast which are the victims of the post-election crisis of 2011, they use only their personal funds to finance innovation activity and generally engage in these innovation activities according to the security of the business environment and social protection of intellectual property

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