Series Information
The Enterprise Survey is a firm-level survey of a representative sample of an economy's private sector. Firm-level surveys have been conducted since 1998 by different units within the World Bank. Since 2005-2006, most data collection efforts have been centralized within the Enterprise Analysis Unit. The Enterprise Surveys are conducted across all geographic regions and cover small, medium, and large companies. The surveys are administered to a representative sample of firms in the non-agricultural formal private economy. Data is used to create indicators that benchmark the quality of the business and investment climate across countries.
The Innovation Follow-up Survey was launched in 2011 to study innovation and innovation-related activities.
During 2011-2014, 19 countries in Africa and South Asia already included in the standard Enterprise Survey have been surveyed using the innovation module. The countries are: Congo DRC, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe in Africa and Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan in South Asia.
Abstract
In 2011 the World Bank in collaboration with the Department for International Development (DFID), launched the follow-up survey to the standard World Bank Enterprise Survey (ES) aiming to improve the measurement of innovation in emerging economies and developing countries.
Researchers revisited businesses already interviewed during the ES to collect firm-level data on innovation and innovation related activities, such as product innovation, process innovation, organizational innovation, and marketing innovation.
The objectives of the Innovation Follow-up Survey are:
- To provide evidence on nature, role and determinants of innovation in emerging and developing countries;
- To generate information that will be used to identify projects and develop policies to promote innovation;
- To stimulate systematic policy dialogue on the importance of innovation as a driver of private sector development and economic growth at the global level.
In Namibia, the survey was administered to a subset of ES respondents randomly selected in order to have a final sample of 75% of the original ES; 379 successful interviews were conducted. Business owners and top managers were interviewed from June 2014 through December 2014.
The innovation dataset can be merged with Namibia 2014 Enterprise Survey dataset using the common id variable "idstd".
Unit of Analysis
The primary sampling unit of the study is an establishment. An establishment is a physical location where business is carried out and where industrial operations take place or services are provided. A firm may be composed of one or more establishments. For example, a brewery may have several bottling plants and several establishments for distribution. For the purposes of this survey an establishment must make its own financial decisions and have its own financial statements separate from those of the firm. An establishment must also have its own management and control over its payroll.
