Innovation Systems

This book places a central question: why are some regions in the world more successful in innovation than others? It aims to increase readers ́ understanding of how innovation processes are accelerated or hindered by regional characteristics. A deep dive into differences of innovation ecosystems across global regions will provide a detailed mosaic of strengths and weaknesses. The audience will also learn to assess the resources and elements of regional innovation systems and to compare and contrast structures and processes in innovation management in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas. The speciality of the book lies in its focus on the patterns that are behind the development of many successful innovation regions and it defines the ingredients for right planning and policy development.

Since its emergence in the 1980s the national innovation system (NIS) concept has become widely used by scholars and policymakers alike. In the course of its rapid diffusion it has provoked controversy on fundamental issues. Where did NIS emerge? What is the theoretical core of the concept? Is it actually a scientific concept or simply a buzz-word? How useful is it in terms of low income countries? How does the national innovation system relate to economic, social and environmental sustainable development? Is it meaningful to study national systems in a globalizing economy? What are the legitimate policy implications? This book provides an in depth analysis of all these questions as well as recommending future avenues of research.

The slowdown of growth in Western industrialized nations in the last twenty years, along with the rise of Japan as a major economic and technological power (and enhanced technical sophistication of Taiwan, Korea, and other NICs) has led to what the authors believe to be a "techno-nationalism." This combines a strong belief that technological capabilities of a nation;s firms are a key source of their competitive process, with a belief that these capabilities are in a sense national, and can be built by national action. This book is about these national systems of technical innovation. The heart of the work contains studies of seventeen countries--from large market-oriented industrialized ones to several smaller high income ones, including a number of newly industrialized states as well. Clearly written, this work highlights institutions and mechanisms which support technical innovation, showing similarities, differences, and their sources across nations, making this work accessible to students as well as the scholars of innovation.

A frequent complaint in literature is that services have been previously largely overlooked by innovation researchers and technology policy makers. Given the unarguable growth in the importance of the service sectors, increasing numbers of researchers and policy makers have taken a fresh look at service activities. Innovation Systems in the Service Economy: Measurement and Case Study Analysis presents contributions which increase the understanding of the role of services in the development of the division of labor in modern economics. This volume is devoted to the elaboration and understanding of the following two themes. First, service firms can be innovative in their own right, even though the process of innovation and the kinds of innovation may be different from those traditionally associated with manufacturing and other primary activities. Second, service firms and associated activities play an important role in the evolving division of creative labor which is constituted by modern innovative systems.

This book discusses the latest theoretical advances in regional innovation research, presents empirical cases involving the development of regional innovation systems (RISs), and explores regional innovation policy approaches. Grounded in the extensive literature on RISs, it addresses state-of-the-art developments in light of recent theoretical advances in economic geography and related disciplines. Written in honor of Bjørn Asheim's seventieth birthday, the book includes novel and carefully selected chapters prepared by collaborators, colleagues and former PhD-students of one of the founding fathers of RIS research. Further, it makes a significant contribution to the academic debate on regional innovation and growth and offers valuable insights for scholars and policymakers alike.

This volume provides a novel way of examining innovation in sectors by proposing the framework of sectoral systems of innovation. It analyses the innovation process, the factors affecting innovation, the changing boundaries and transformation of sectors, and the determinants of the innovation performance of firms and countries in different sectors.

Interactions between firms and universities are key building blocks of innovation systems. This book focuses on those interactions in developing countries, presenting studies based on fresh empirical material prepared by research teams in 12 countries

'National Systems of Innovation' presents a new perspective on the dynamics of the national and the global economy. Its starting point is that the international competitiveness of nations is founded on innovation. Which role do different parts of the national system play in determining the long-term dynamics of the economy? What is happening to the coherence of national systems of innovation in an era characterised by far-reaching internationalisation and globalisation? These and other issues are addressed in this volume. Available for the first time in paperback, the book is an invaluable resource for scholars and policy-makers.

Why are some regions and cities so good at attracting talented people, creating high-level knowledge, and producing exciting new ideas and innovations? What are the ingredients of success? Can innovative cities be created and stimulated, or do they just flourish by mere chance? This book analyses the development and management of innovation systems in cities, in order to provide a better understanding of what makes such systems perform. The book opens by developing a conceptual model that combines insights from urban economics with economic geography, urban governance and place marketing. This highlights the relevance of path dependence, different types of proximity (and the role of clusters, networks and platforms), institutional conditions, place attractiveness and place identity in the evolution of local innovation systems. The authors then draw on this conceptual framework to structure empirical case studies in three cities with a relatively high innovation performance: Eindhoven (the Netherlands), Stockholm (Sweden) and Suzhou (China). Through these case studies they provide a detailed analysis of how successful innovation systems evolve and what makes them tick. Unique to this book is the linking of analysis to concrete policy and management responses. The book ends with a discussion on six themes in the development of successful urban innovation systems: firm-capabilities and leader firms, higher education and research, attractive environment, place branding, institutional environment and entrepreneurship. Each theme is examined fully, drawing lessons from the case studies, and from recent insights and other cases discussed in the literature. This title will be of interest to students, researchers and policymakers involved in regional innovation systems, knowledge locations and cluster development.

Since 1995 there has been a worldwide innovation-led boom and subsequent slump meaning enormous change in regional economies. The new edition registers this change and provides an interesting test of the robustness of the original arguments.