HOW COULD ECUADORIAN FIRMS SURVIVE TO THE PANDEMIC? INNNOVATING

ABSTRACT

The pandemic of Covid-19 has caused the biggest shock in the economy since the Second World War. In this paper, we studied we study what conditioned the capability of the companies in Quito, Ecuador, to continuous operating in the new Covid-19 reality. The hypothesis remains that innovative firms have a greater capacity to adapt to the pandemic. We apply a probabilistic and ordinary least squares model. We use the data of a survey built to 1,730 SMEs in Quito between April and May of 202. We confirm that the probability to continuous operating number of the companies in Quito was related to the innovations developed after the pandemic started. We also explore the role of innovation is contrasted, both by diversity and typology. This paper contributes to the idea that innovation is fundamental to the future of the firms also in a little innovative country. © 2023,Regional and Sectoral Economic Studies. All Rights Reserved.