Characteristics of the client sectors of R&D services in Korea

Abstract

The Korean government has had difficulty in boosting the R&D services industry despite of the huge expectation for its potential benefits as a source of innovation facilitators. This paper argues that the initial key is not only in R&D service providers but also in R&D service client firms because the providers do not have a common ground in the outcome but rather in the function provided for diverse client firms. This paper categorizes manufacturing client sectors by their use of R&D services and investigates the behaviors of R&D services utilization by each sector group. As a result, it classifies client sectors into four groups, namely, new growth engine sectors, hightechnology-based key industrial sectors, traditional industrial sectors, and consumer-goods sectors. The detailed characteristics of each group are determined by using a questionnaire survey. The study shows the need for a customized approach to R&D service development by client sectors.