17
factors and the relying on pull of highly skilled labor among these firms, and therefore emerge
in the importance they ascribed to such factors.
In regarding to the hi-tech sector (see Table 2) almost no differences were found in
accordance to location. Statistical significant differences exist between the hi-tech firms
located in the metropolitan area and those in the periphery, only in two of the seventeen
barriers from the list. Just one of them has certain important to innovation expressed by the
lack of market information barrier that included in the medium importance group of factors.
However, the importance of this barrier to the ability to innovate is much greater among hi-
tech firms located in the metropolitan area, than in the periphery (see Figure 4).
Figure 4: Distribution of hi-tech firms (%) according to the importance they ascribed to
the lack of information on market opportunities as a barrier to innovation, by regions
no slightly moderately very crucial
significant significant significant significant
□ metropolitan □ periphery
Although we can not assume that being located in the periphery improve the information
sources on market, it does not for sure necessarily harm your information sources on potential
markets. On the contrary, almost 50% of the hi-tech firms in the metropolitan area ascribed to
this barrier at least moderate significant or more in limiting the ability to innovate, in contrast
to only 12% of the firms in the periphery. This result probably connected to the fact that hi-
tech firms located in the metropolitan area invest more in R&D and thereby developed new
products (78.7% of the firms) than does the firms in the periphery (56% of the firms).
The result obtained from the traditional industry show much more differences between the
firm in accordance to location. In five factors from the list of the ranked barriers, the
differences between the importance ascribed by firms located in the metropolitan area and