Evaluation Of Technology Policy Programmes In Germany

The evaluation of government programmes and measures in the field of technology policy has gained in significance in Germany over the past decade. A variety of evaluation studies on individual projects or programmes with different aims, approaches and methods are available. Which experiences were gained with the instrument of evaluation in this policy area? Evaluation of Technology Policy Programmes in Germany: demonstrates trends of government policy in Germany; documents experiences with the use of various promotion instruments; represents approaches and methods, used in the past years to test the efficiency of various tools of industrial technology policy and discusses their strengths and weaknesses, and draws conclusions for the further development of the evaluation of technology policy in selected areas. £/LIST£ The book includes contributions by authors from the most highly recognized German institutes and consultants working in the evaluation of technology policy, of interest to policy makers, administrators, as well as researchers, scholars and students of economics, innovation research and public policy.

Maintaining the innovation capabilities of firms, employees and institutions is a key component for the generation of sustainable growth, employment, and high income in industrial societies. Gaining insights into the German innovation system and the institutional framework is as important to policy making as is data on the endowment of the German economy with factors fostering innovation and their recent development. Germany's Federal Ministry of Education and Research has repeatedly commissioned reports on the competitive strength of the German innovation system since the mid-eighties. The considerable attention that the public and the political, administrative and economic actors have paid to these reports in the past few years proves the strong interest in the assessment of and indicators for the dynamics behind innovation activities. The present study closely follows the pattern of those carried out before. It has been extended, however, to include an extensive discussion on indicators for technological performance and an outline of the key features of the German innovation system.

1. 1 Purpose of the Study When the Agreement for the Foundation of the European Economic Community (EC Treaty) was extended and changed by the Single European Act (SEA), ratified by all the Member States of the European Community (EC) in July 1987, research and techno logical development were placed for the first time on an equal footing with other politi cal competences of the EC. In the newly added Articles 130 f - q of the EC Treaty the aims and policy measures are clearly formulated, thus giving the EC a real competence to act. The main aim of European research and technological development policy (RID policy) is (according to Article 130f of the SEA) to strengthen the scientific and technical basis of European industry and the development of its international competitiveness, to support transnational cooperation between industry and science, and to integrate the area of research and technological development into the general concept for the realisation of the internal market of the European Community. The main instruments of European RID policy are the "Community Framework Pro grammes", running for several years, in which the aims, priorities and fmancial dimen sions are defmed for a period of four to five years.

The cornerstone of the book is the proposed Eclectic Theory of Entrepreneurship. The goal of the Eclectic Theory is to provide a unified framework for understanding and analyzing the determinants of entrepreneurship. The Eclectic Theory of entrepreneurship integrates the different strands from relevant fields into a unifying, coherent framework.

In this way, this book will enrich the theory and practice of evaluation worldwide."--BOOK JACKET.

This edition has been revised and updated to provide a comprehensive and practical guide to science and technology policy in Germany. Combining information on official and corporate bodies and research organizations with analysis of trends, this text includes recent developments in the country, reviewing science and technology in the light of changes made since reunification.