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Title: Roots of innovative knowledge in small commercial enterprises in Ecuador

Authors: Fabian X. Martinez-Ortiz; Carlos M. Jardon; Xavier Martinez-Cobas

Addresses: Universidad Técnica de Cotopaxi, Cotopaxi, Ecuador; Graduate School, Universidad Politécnica Estatal del Carchi, Tulcán, Carchi, Ecuador ' Universidade de Vigo, Vigo, Galicia, Spain; IRTI – Institute for Research on Smart Cross-Border Regions, Universidad Gaston Dachary, Posadas, Misiones, Argentina ' Department of Accounting and Financial Economics, Facultade de Económicas e Empresariais, Universidade de Vigo, 36310, Vigo, Galicia, Spain

Abstract: Innovation is key to competitiveness. Small businesses base their innovation on knowledge, so knowledge is essential for competitiveness. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the roots of knowledge that generate innovation capability in small commercial enterprises. The research studies whether internal factors (training and skills) and external factors (cooperation and spillover networks) are used by small commercial enterprises to generate innovation capability in a province of Ecuador. The research uses a representative sample of 316 small commercial businesses in the canton of La Maná in Ecuador, using a structural equation model estimated by partial least squares (PLS). The results show the specific process of innovative knowledge in small commercial enterprises, indicating that training increases entrepreneurial skills, and that these skills require relationships with other agents to acquire knowledge through informal dissemination networks and/or formal cooperation networks to generate innovation capability.

Keywords: cooperation; training; innovation; skills; small business; spillover; structural equation model; Ecuador.

DOI: 10.1504/IJESB.2026.153995

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 2026 Vol.58 No.5, pp.1 - 22

Received: 12 Feb 2026
Accepted: 19 Apr 2026
Published online: 09 Jun 2026 *