Asserting Its Global Influence: The Quest for Innovation and Entrepreneurial Universities in Singapore

Abstract

Singapore’s successful industrialization has always been attributed to its effective industrial policy to attain a desirable macroeconomic environment for industrial development (Goh 2005; Hu and Mathews 2005). Since independence, in face of a scarcity of natural resources, Singapore directed its industrial policies toward employment creation, using favorable incentives to attract foreign direct investment and multinational companies (MNCs) to increase productive capacity. Gradually, a vibrant manufacturing sector was formed and dominated the economy. Unlike other “Asian Miracles,” Singapore primarily relied upon MNCs to produce the knowledge spillovers and technology transfers necessary to develop its national technological capability rather than indigenous R&D. For example, the initial intention of the government to establish a Singapore Science Park was to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) and MNCs. The 1997/98 Asian financial crisis and the 2008/09 global economic crisis led to the Singaporean government’s realization that overreliance on FDI and MNCs had constrained the country’s ability to resist external economic crises as global competition intensifies, and thus has recognized the importance of diversifying its national investment (Goh 2005). Establishing a dynamic innovation hub that supports high-tech manufacturing and R&D has become a national development agenda in Singapore. This chapter critically examines how the Singapore government has attempted to transform its higher education sector to make it more entrepreneurial while adopting different measures to promote innovation by encouraging more university-enterprise cooperation.