Science, technology, and innovation policy timing and nanotechnology entrepreneurship and innovation.

Jennifer L Woolley,Nydia Macgregor,Mehdi Keshavarz-Ghorabaee

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0264856

Abstract

The timing of science, technology, and innovation (STI) policy initiatives is critical to the outcomes that they produce. This study examines the advantages and disadvantages of enacting STI policy investments early in a nascent domain of activity. Building on work across multiple disciplines, we propose a framework to better understand the temporal dynamics of STI policy. An examination of data on nanotechnology STI policy around the world shows that the timing and funding size is related to entrepreneurship and innovation in different ways. The findings reveal that countries that started funding national STI programs in nanotechnology later had a lower proportion of the total nanotechnology firms, patents, and publications in the world, which suggests some first-mover advantages to STI policy. However, this is only part of the story. Countries that had large programs after the technology had gained legitimacy had the opposite situation such that there was a higher proportion of the total nanotechnology firms, patents, and publication in the world and more nanotechnology-related patents per capita and firms relative to other firms in the country explicating some of the complexity of policy timing. We discuss how temporal considerations influence both the theory and practice of building systems of innovation.

Highlights

Innovation and entrepreneurship have emerged as policy imperatives in many countries, backed by large budgets and considerable public attention
To gain insight into the role of STI policy timing in the emergence of a nascent technology, we focus on national policies that support nanotechnology science, technology, and innovation
To focus on countries that participate in the field, we report the findings for the sample

Summary

Introduction

Innovation and entrepreneurship have emerged as policy imperatives in many countries, backed by large budgets and considerable public attention. States, regions, and cities have implemented a variety of initiatives with the hopes of bolstering existing regional innovation systems or shepherding new ones to improve economic growth and prosperity [1, 2]. Technology, and innovation (STI) policies are one set of government initiatives designed to support basic research, innovation, and commercialization of inventions [3–5]. STI policy can increase the amount of knowledge spillover [6], the speed and level of product and industrial emergence [7–9] and an area’s economic growth [10].

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