National Innovation System in the Era of Liberalization: Implications for Science and Technology Policy for Developing Economies (original) (raw)
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Developing National Systems of Innovation
Developing National Systems of Innovation, 2015
Economic development in countries behind the technological frontier requires innovation both by firms, and by farms, hospitals, and other organizations that provide goods and services. This is not innovation in the sense of introducing something new to the world economy, but of introducing something new to the particular context. In general, in economies that are significantly behind the frontier and that are aiming to catch up, the new practices put in place by firms tend to be modelled on practices that have been employed for some time by firms at the frontier. However, empirical research shows clearly that innovation of this kind has many of the attributes of innovation at the frontier. A large share of these efforts fails. Success generally requires a considerable amount of learning by the firms by doing and using before they acquire the needed capabilities. This view of the process through which developing economies acquire increased capabilities to produce goods and services is relatively new among economists who study the process. Traditionally, economists have focused on the investments needed. They saw the problem of mastering new ways of doing things as mostly involving "technology transfer", a term that played down the difficult learning processes involved. In the early writings of development economists on the need for firm learning, the focus was on what the firms themselves needed to do. More recently, there has been growing recognition that firms are part of a community of organizations and institutions whose interactions affect the direction and efficacy of learning. The concept of an "innovation system," which for some time has been employed by scholars of innovation in advanced industrial countries, is now more often used to denote and characterize the complex collection of actors and interactions that are involved in innovation in countries behind the frontiers and striving to catch up. The research projects in this book focus on a particular part of the workings of innovation systems: the interactions between universities and public laboratories and firms, and how these interactions affect the efficacy of the efforts of firms to acquire new capabilities. In recent years, the relationships between universities and firms, and how these relationships x Developing national systems of innovation xi Acknowledgements We would like to thank Professor Richard Nelson and his Catch Up Project for the tremendous incentive and help provided for this research. Our international research is a child of the Catch Up Project. Launched at Columbia University in May 2005, the Catch Up Project provided the first opportunity for researchers from 12 countries and three continents to make contact and exchange information about a potential research project. In September 2006 in Milan, the Catch Up Project held a meeting hosted by Franco Malerba to improve the project proposal for presentation to the International Development Research Centre (IDRC). Professor Richard Nelson always helped our theoretical and empirical discussions, and generously used his knowledge to improve our proposals. We would like to thank IDRC and its Research on Knowledge Systems (RoKS) Program for funding our research in three continents and 12 countries. The guidance, help, and enthusiasm provided by Jean Woo, since the RoKS Workshop in Ho Chi Minh City in January 2007 and during all phases of our research, were very important for our work. In addition, the Globelics network provided opportunities for our groups to come together in South Africa, Mexico, and Argentina to both organize our research and present preliminary results. Funding from IDRC helped attract other funding sources in many countries. We would like to thank the Mexican agency Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACYT), the Argentine agencies Consejo
2016
Developed over the past three decades, the national innovation system concept (NIS) has been widely used by both scholars and policy makers to explain how interactions between a set of distinct, nationally bounded institutions supports and facilitates technological change and the emergence and diffusion of new innovations. This concept provides a framework by which developing countries can adopt for purposes of catching up. Initially conceived on structures and interactions identified in economically advanced countries, the application of the NIS concept to developing countries has been gradual and has coincided – in the NIS literature – with a move away from overly macro-interpretations to an emphasis on micro-level interactions and processes, with much of this work questioning the nation state as the most appropriate level of analysis, as well as the emergence of certain intermediary actors thought to facilitate knowledge exchange between actors and institutions. This paper review...
Developed over the past three decades, the national innovation system concept (NIS) has been widely used by both scholars and policy makers to explain how interactions between a set of distinct, nationally bounded institutions supports and facilitates technological change and the emergence and diffusion of new innovations. This concept provides a framework by which developing countries can adopt for purposes of catching up. Initially conceived on structures and interactions identified in economically advanced countries, the application of the NIS concept to developing countries has been gradual and has coincidedin the NIS literaturewith a move away from overly macro-interpretations to an emphasis on micro-level interactions and processes, with much of this work questioning the nation state as the most appropriate level of analysis, as well as the emergence of certain intermediary actors thought to facilitate knowledge exchange between actors and institutions. This paper reviews the NIS literature chronologically, showing how this shift in emphasis has diminished somewhat the importance of both institutions, particularly governments, and the process of institutional capacity building. In doing so, the paper suggests that more recent literature on intermediaries such as industry associations may offer valuable insights to how institutional capacity building occurs and how it might be directed, particularly in the context of developing countries where governance capacities are often lacking, contributing to less effective innovation systems, stagnant economies, and unequal development.
The dynamics of innovation: from National Systems and
Research policy, 2000
The Triple Helix of university-industry-government relations is compared with alternative models for explaining the current research system in its social contexts. Communications and negotiations between institutional partners generate an overlay that increasingly reorganizes the underlying arrangements. The institutional layer can be considered as the retention mechanism of a developing system. For example, the national organization of the system of innovation has historically been important in determining competition. Reorganizations across industrial sectors and nation states, however, are induced by Ž . Ž . new technologies biotechnology, ICT . The consequent transformations can be analyzed in terms of neo-evolutionary mechanisms. University research may function increasingly as a locus in the ''laboratory'' of such knowledge-intensive network transitions. q
Formalising the National Innovation System in a Developing Country
2020
Since the introduction of the National Innovation System (NIS) concept, most of the research has focused on innovation capabilities and economic development of developed countries. The paper contributes to the NIS literature for small developing countries that operate largely in low-technology sectors. A case study approach was adopted, detailing the steps for formalising a NIS in a developing country, The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago (T&T). System dynamics is used to examine the policy initiative. For the formalisation of the NIS in T&T, the design of the system must account for all three elements of innovation systems: the actors, the interactions among the actors and the intended innovation output. Policy makers in developing countries must consider their local context when specifying the innovative activity of the NIS. In measuring the success of innovation polices targeting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), financial and non-financial measures should be used.
National Innovation Systems in Developing Countries
2020
NIS concepts are increasingly being utilised to inform public policy, both in the developed and developing world. This paper attempts to add to the discourse on how it is being applied within a developing context, particularly within a country aiming to transition into one developing its own innovation capabilities. By examining Malaysia as a case study, utilising NIS literature, domestic innovation surveys and international innovation benchmarks, weaknesses of the country's approach are identified which can be used to inform the actions of policy makers operating within similar context. The key recommendations are to ensure government efficiency through horizontal and vertical alignment across public organisations on key innovation outcomes in order to reap the benefits of any targeted innovation policies.