Pavitt's taxonomy of innovating firms, published sixteen years ago, has become a classic paper in the field of technological change. This article discusses some of its characteristics and proposes some minor and not so minor extensions and revisions.

The article discusses the condition and perspective of the European Union in the knowledge economy and the feasibility of the goal given by the European Council at the summits held in Lisbon (March 2000) and Barcelona (March 2002), that is, to increase European R&D expenditure to 3 per cent of...