Abstract
There has been an increasing interest in science, technology and innovation policy studies in the topic of policy mixes. While earlier studies conceptualised policy mixes mainly in terms of combinations of instruments to support innovation, more recent literature extends the focus to how policy mixes can foster sustainability transitions. For this, broader policy mix conceptualisations have emerged which also include considerations of policy goals and policy strategies; policy mix characteristics such as consistency, coherence, credibility and comprehensiveness; as well as policy making and implementation processes. It is these broader conceptualisations of policy mixes which are the subject of the special issue introduced in this article. We aim at supporting the emergence of a new strand of interdisciplinary social science research on policy mixes which combines approaches, methods and insights from innovation and policy studies to further such broader policy mix research with a specific focus on fostering sustainability transitions. In this article we introduce this topic and present a bibliometric analysis of the literature on policy mixes in both fields as well as their emerging connections. We also introduce five major themes in the policy mix literature and summarise the contributions made by the articles in the special issue to these: methodological advances; policy making and implementation; actors and agency; evaluating policy mixes; and the co-evolution of policy mixes and socio-technical systems. We conclude by summarising key insights for policy making.
Highlights
It has long been acknowledged that a combination of technology push and demand pull instruments is recommended for stimulating innovation (Di Stefano et al, 2012)
Rogge and Reichardt (2016) conceptualise policy mixes as being constituted of interacting instruments, and include corresponding policy strategies with their long-term targets, policy mix characteristics and policy processes which shape the policy mix in their conceptualisation. These broader conceptualisations pay more explicit attention to dynamics over time, characteristics of policy mixes, the different actors and levels of policy action involved in shaping policy mixes, as well as the policy processes themselves and the impacts of policy mixes. Given this ‘broadening’ of policy mix thinking, we argue that research on policy mixes within the innovation studies field would benefit from more cross-fertilization with related work in the policy studies literature (e.g. Howlett et al, 2015; Howlett and Rayner, 2007) as already proposed by Flanagan et al (2011)
We suggest that drawing on policy studies can enrich discussions about policy mixes within the innovation studies community by offering a broader set of conceptualisations, analytical frameworks and methodological approaches for analysing policy mixes
Summary
It has long been acknowledged that a combination of technology push and demand pull instruments is recommended for stimulating innovation (Di Stefano et al, 2012). A third example is the report of the International Energy Agency (2017) on ‘Real-world policy packages for sustainable energy transitions’ which acknowledges that a variety of different instruments need to be combined into coherent policy packages, while pointing out that there is no one “right” policy package as national objectives and constraints differ.
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