8. Managing resources: national

innovation systems

Learning objectives

• appreciate the difference between incremental and more radical types of innovation

• explore the link between the ‘techno-economic paradigm’ shift and dramatic change in national institutions

• identify the major institutions involved in innovation processes • assess the role of these different institutions in innovative systems • compare and explain the differences in the main features of the

innovation systems of the USA, Asia, Germany and France • explain how these divergences help to understand differences in national

innovation trajectories

Chapter Outline (1)

8.1 Introduction 8.2 Technical and technological advancement

Incremental versus radical innovations Disruptive versus sustaining innovation High and low technology Changes of a ‘technology system’ and a ‘techno-economic’ paradigm

8.3 Innovation: Overview of the major institutions involved Institutional features affecting the stock of knowledge in research institutes Institutional features affecting the flow of knowledge between research institutions and industry Organizational practices affecting the stock of knowledge in industry

Chapter Outline (2)

8.4 The American innovation system 8.5 Asian innovation systems 8.6 The German innovation system 8.7 The French innovation system 8.8 Innovation types under societal effects 8.9 Conclusions Study questions Further reading References

Table 8.1Distribution of innovation modes in 14 EU member

nations, 1998–2000

Study questions

1. Explain why, despite globalization, the concept of a ‘national’ innovation system still makes sense.

2. Explain why institutions and culture matter in an analysis of an innovation system.

3. Explain how history matters in systems of innovation. 4. Explain in what way the anti-trust statutes of the USA have had an effect on the

structure and performance of the innovation system. 5. Explain the factors that are argued to have contributed to the prominent role of

new, small firms in the postwar US innovation system. 6. Explain how government protection and promotion in Asia helped the

indigenous industry. 7. Explain how an emphasis on tacit knowledge may both stimulate and hamper

innovation. 8. Explain the features of the German system of innovation that contribute to the

German industry’s strength in the industries in which it is strong. 9. Explain the features of the innovation system of France that have contributed to

an emphasis on large-scale and systemic innovation.