The Theoretical Basis and the Empirical Treatment of National Innovation Systems

This paper deals with theoretical as well as empirical issues in research on national innovation systems (NIS). The aims of this paper are the following: first, some basic concepts of the NIS approach as they are used here are defined and explained. This seems to be necessary for reasons of clarity, since different authors in this field still make use of different concepts. Second, and based on this theoretical introduction, the empirical treatment of national innovation systems is discussed while recent trends in the NIS literature on performance measurement of innovation systems are summarized. Third, details of a research agenda with the goal to improve performance measurements of national innovation systems are given whilst potential pitfalls of benchmarking exercises in the context of national innovation systems are also discussed.innovation, national innovation systems, performance measurement

A new era in the dynamics of European integration?

In the previous decades, the European Union (EU) has succeeded in integrating new member countries, in economic and in political respects. Three main reasons lie behind this successful integration process: First, the solidarity of richer EU members with their poorer counterparts, second, the effectiveness of the integration policies conducted by the EU, and third, the willingness of new member countries to arouse and accomplish an economic catch-up process towards EU average levels. With the enlargement by ten new members in May 2004, the EU is facing the biggest challenge in its history. Thereby, the population of the Union will rise by 25%, while its overall GDP will increase by merely 5%. Apart from the economic problems that may emerge because of this discrepancy, further difficulties may arise because some of the new entrants are former centrally planned economies that have not yet completed their transformation processes towards free market-economies. In this paper, we want to investigate whether the Union may be moving towards a new era in the dynamics of integration. In doing so, we will analyze some of the main challenges the EU will be confronted with in the near future. In detail, we have identified two types of challenges. On the one hand, these are internal challenges, being closely related to the structural adjustments of the Union. We will further differentiate these internal challenges into economic and political ones. On the other hand, there exist external challenges that predominantly concern the competitiveness of European countries in a global context. With regard to these external challenges, we will only deal with economic aspects. One of the main findings of our analysis is that the EU will have to manage a highly difficult trade-off between the stimulation of Union-wide economic convergence and international competitiveness of its member countries. In the short-run, the process of European integration can well be deepened, given that the current controversies with regard to the financing of European support programs for poorer members and with regard to the implementation of a new constitution for the EU will be resolved. In the long-run, even if these controversies can be remedied, it appears likely that the dynamic process of European integration will not proceed as smoothly and as successfully as it did in the past. That is because the economic disparities across EU member countries have never been larger, and because the "development funds" now need to be distributed among a larger number of countries than in the past. Apart from these difficulties, it can be expected that the concentration on intra-European integration processes will be harmful to the international competitive strength of the entire Union, especially when this colossus confederation fails to take account of the economic desires of its strongest members. Certainly, the strongest nations within the Union are exposed to the pressures of international competition among highly developed nations on the basis of innovation and productivity. This kind of competition can be described as a Schumpeterian competition. In the light of all these aspects, there are indications that a European Union of "two velocities" will emerge, whereby a core of countries will mainly pursue the objective to strengthen their international competitiveness, while the remaining members will be struggling to accomplish an economic catch-up process to intra-European standards.economic integration, macroeconomic development, technological change

Mapping National Innovation Systems in the OECD Area

The purpose of this paper is to present new findings about the structure and the organization of innovative activities in selected OECD countries. By using the approach of national sys-tems of innovation as a conceptual framework and by applying multivariate data analysis techniques, this paper aims to add new insights into the specific structures of the eighteen national systems of innovation under study. A central result from this comparative study is a categorisation of national systems of innovation into different clusters, with each cluster rep-resenting distinctive cross-national structural similarities. By accounting for sectoral specif-ics, the commonly taken perspective on national innovation systems is extended. Thereby, a more precise picture of the structural composition of the analyzed national innovation sys-tems accrues. Also, a new linkage between the two approaches of national and sectoral inno-vation systems is created.national innovation systems, comparative study, classification

Recent Trends in the Research on National Innovation Systems

In this paper, we give an overview on recent developments in the research on national innovation systems (NIS). Essentially, we identify three development lines of the concept. These are policy-oriented studies that frequently combine the NIS approach with the terminology of corporate benchmarking, contributions to formalize the concept of NIS through descriptive or analytical models, and NIS studies of countries beyond the group of highly industrialized economies. It follows from the analysis of these research trends that the concept has developed in distinctive directions. In international comparisons of innovation systems, heterogeneity in the structure of the systems is only marginally taken into account, an aspect that may reduce the explanatory power of such system-level comparisons. Contrary to this, historically grown organizational and institutional structures are extensively described and considered in NIS studies of industrializing countries, a characteristic which ties up with early studies of national innovation systems.innovation, national innovation systems, comparative studies

The effects of King John's scutages on East-Anglian subjects

In this paper, we give an overview on recent developments in the research on national innovation systems (NIS). Essentially, we identify three development lines of the concept. These are policy-oriented studies that frequently combine the NIS approach with the terminology of corporate benchmarking, contributions to formalize the concept of NIS through descriptive or analytical models, and NIS studies of countries beyond the group of highly industrialized economies. It follows from the analysis of these research trends that the concept has developed in distinctive directions. In international comparisons of innovation systems, heterogeneity in the structure of the systems is only marginally taken into account, an aspect that may reduce the explanatory power of such system-level comparisons. Contrary to this, historically grown organizational and institutional structures are extensively described and considered in NIS studies of industrializing countries, a characteristic which ties up with early studies of national innovation systems

A new era in the dynamics of European integration?

In the previous decades, the European Union (EU) has succeeded in integrating new member countries, in economic and in political respects. Three main reasons lie behind this successful integration process: First, the solidarity ofricher EU members with their poorer counterparts, second, the effectiveness of the integration policies conducted by the EU, and third, the willingness of new member countries to arouse and accomplish an economic catch-up process towards EU average leveis. With the enlargement by ten new members in May 2004, the EU is facing the biggest challenge in its history. Thereby, the population of the Union will rise by 25%, while its overall GDP will increase by merely 5%. Apart from the economic problems that may emerge because ofthis discrepancy, further difficulties may arise because some ofthe new entrants are former centrally planned economies that have not yet completed their transformation processes towards free market-economies. In this paper, we want to investigate whether the Union may be moving towards a new era in the dynamics of integration. In doing so, we will analyze some of the main challenges the EU will be confronted with in the near future. In detail, we have identified two types of challenges. On the one hand, these are internai challenges, being closely related to the structural adjustments of the Union. We will further differentiate these internai challenges into economic and political ones. On the other hand, there exist externai challenges that predominantly concem the competitiveness of European countries in a global context. With regard to these externai challenges, we will only deal with economic aspects.One ofthe main findings of our analysis is that the EU will have to manage a highly difficult trade-offbetween the stimulation ofUnion-wide economic convergence and intemational competitiveness ofits membercountries. In the short-run, the process of European integration can well be deepened, given that the current controversies with regard to the financing of European support programs for poorer members and with regard to the implementation of a new constitution for the EU will be resolved. In the long-run, even ifthese controversies can be remedied, it appears likely that the dynamic process of European integration will not proceed as smoothly and as successfully as it did in the past. That is because the economic disparities across EU member countries have never been larger, and because the “development funds” now need to be distributed among a larger number ofcountries than in the past. Apart from these difficulties, it can be expected that the concentration on intra-European integration processes will be harmful to the intemational competitive strength ofthe entire Union, especially when this colossus confederation fails to take account of the economic desires ofits strongest members. Certainly, the strongest nations within the Union are exposed to the pressures ofintemational competition among highly developed nations on the basis ofinnovation and productivity. This kind ofcompetition can be described as a Schumpeterian competition. In the light of all these aspects, there are indications that a European Union of “two velocities” will emerge, whereby a core of countries will mainly pursue the objective to strengthen their intemational competitiveness, while the remaining members will be struggling to accomplish an economic catch-up process to intra European standards

The theoretical basis and the empirical treatment of national innovation systems

This paper deals with theoretical as well as empirical issues in research on national innovation systems (NIS). The aims of this paper are the following: first, some basic concepts of the NIS approach as they are used here are defined and explained. This seems to be necessary for reasons of clarity, since different authors in this field still make use of different concepts. Second, and based on this theoretical introduction, the empirical treatment of national innovation systems is discussed while recent trends in the NIS literature on performance measurement of innovation systems are summarized. Third, details of a research agenda with the goal to improve performance measurements of national innovation systems are given whilst potential pitfalls of benchmarking exercises in the context of national innovation systems are also discussed

Benchmarking in the context of national innovation systems: purpose and pitfalls

Recent contributions to the literature of national innovation systems (NIS) reflect growing research interests in cross-country comparisons, in particular so in performance comparisons across national innovation systems. Although such comparisons differ significantly in terms of methodological aspects, most of them are labeled as benchmarking studies. But not only the use of this technical term can be problematical; the very task of comparing NIS is now under debate as well. It is the purpose of this paper to discuss the usefulness of benchmarking studies carried out within the framework of national innovation systems (NIS benchmarking)