Research and Innovation Policies in the New Global Economy: An International Comparative Analysis (New Horizons in the Economics of Innovation)

The concept of national innovation systems has been at the core of research and innovation policies for more than a decade now. This decade has witnessed important transformations in national innovation systems linked to the end of the rationale for public intervention necessitated by the Cold War, the increasing globalization of innovative capabilities and the emergence of the "new economy" based on the rapid expansion of information and communication technologies. This book re-evaluates national systems of innovation following the approach of the seminal work by Richard Nelson in the early 1990s. The authors, all leading scholars in innovation research, provide thorough analytical descriptions of the national innovation system in their country and set that system in historical perspective. Each chapter is written so the reader can easily make comparisons between countries and regions. Six major issues are identified and addressed in each chapter: the dynamics of universities and their relations with the economy; the evolving role of defence R&D and other large public programmes; the growth of technology policies and the innovative capabilities of SMEs; the changing rationale for government laboratories; the growing role of regions in fostering innovation; and the capability of government to adapt to rapid changes in innovation systems. This book should be of interest to scholars and students of science, technology and innovation policy, management, institutional economics and managers of research and innovation policies at a national and local level.