Innovation Policy Research Articles

Operationalising University Excellence in Doctoral Education: The Case of Top-Ranked Russian Universities

AbstractNumerous countries have implemented excellence initiatives designed to establish world-class universities, boost research productivity, build up staff capacity, and thereby reform doctoral education systems as part of this agenda. To date, the relationship between excellence-driven initiatives and leading universities’ doctoral education enhancement remains understudied in Russia. This study seeks to examine how seven top-ranked Russian universities responded to the Excellence Initiatives (5-100 Project and Priority 2030) at the institutional strategy level from 2012 till 24 February 2022. To explore this relationship and change in research education, documentary research was applied to a corpus of institutional strategies for excellence accompanied with governmental texts. Norman Fairclough’s Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) was adopted and complemented with analytical lenses to understand and examine how university excellence is recontextualised and operationalised in doctoral education structures across these strategies. This CDA was enhanced with theoretical lenses to research how multiple forces behind governmental policies for globalisation, innovation, and international competitiveness shape this change in Russian doctoral education in relation to global trends, national priorities, and local needs. The paper presents and discusses emergent processes (with mechanisms and practices) and the universities’ meaning-making behind the normative and performative ‘enhancement’ in doctoral education constructed with the state’s dominant understandings of university excellence.

Secure renting by living collectively? A relational exploration of home and homemaking in rental housing cooperatives

AbstractIn many countries, rental housing is associated with insecure occupant rights and limited control for residents and homeownership is linked with ontological security. In the literature on homemaking, ontological security comprises a set of attributes, i.e., secure occupancy, autonomy and control, but these are often bundled, or treated jointly. In this paper we draw on the lived experiences of residents in Rental Housing Cooperatives (RHC) in Honduras and Australia, and ask how the experience of ontological security in RHC is shaped by its distinct characteristics? We argue that, if the experience of ontological security can be ‘unbundled’, wellbeing in rental housing, particularly for population groups increasingly locked out of homeownerships, can be advanced through housing policy innovation that enhances these, or specific, attributes of ontological security. Methodologically the paper draws on relational thinking, interview data (n = 15) and qualitative analysis of homemaking practices within RHC in Honduras and Australia. The paper utilises a four-quadrant qualitative assessment framework for evaluating occupants’ sense of security and autonomy/control, relative to their sense of home and simply being housed. Our results suggest that secure occupancy more fundamentally underpins a sense of home, than autonomy/control. Implications for rental policy and research are considered.

Does the combination of low-carbon and innovative policies promote the high-quality development of enterprises?—A quasi-natural experiment based on the “dual pilot” of low carbon and innovation cities

Does the combination of low-carbon and innovative policies promote the high-quality development of enterprises?—A quasi-natural experiment based on the “dual pilot” of low carbon and innovation cities

Quantifying the Value of Technology and Policy Innovation in Water Resource Portfolios

AbstractRecent water infrastructure planning models demonstrate that explicitly accounting for hydrological changes in long‐term water planning reduces costs and increases system robustness. However, current models do not consider the effects of other changes occurring in the system over long time horizons, namely technology and policy innovation. By leveraging state‐of‐the‐art dynamic control techniques, we propose a suite of tools that explicitly relate hydrologic change, technology innovation, and policy interventions to system‐level water costs. We design robust and cost‐optimal strategies for water supply expansion under hydrological variability and hundreds of plausible innovation states, for example, treatment cost and diversification improvements, deployment times, and demand reduction campaigns. Our approach circumvents the need to pre‐assign probabilities to innovation scenarios and, instead, directly calculates the effects of technology, policy, and hydrology variations on system cost and planning strategies to identify avenues of impactful innovation. These tools can support technology development hubs, urban, state, and federal water planners in anticipating cost implications of technology and policy innovation at the local level, and prioritizing high‐impact innovation goals based on quantitative targets. Results for the case study of Santa Barbara, California identify high‐value innovation attributes for the city as well as combinations of innovation attributes across technologies and policies, and quantify their potential utility cost reductions.

A critical evaluation of DC microgrid implementation in Indonesia: opportunities and challenges

This study thoroughly investigates the potential of direct current (DC) microgrids to enhance electricity access in rural and remote areas of Indonesia that continue to face significant obstacles despite ongoing national electrification efforts. Utilizing a mixed-methods approach, this research comprehensively evaluates socio-economic and technical factors that influence the adoption of DC microgrids. The results indicate that DC microgrids offer significant potential for enhancing energy access, reliability, and sustainability, particularly when combined with renewable energy sources. This aligns with Indonesia’s move towards renewable energy. Nevertheless, the analysis identifies significant obstacles, such as the substantial initial investment, the requirement for complete regulatory frameworks, and the technological complexities that need to be conquered. In conclusion, DC microgrids present a promising solution for rural electrification. However, the implementation requires a strategy that emphasizes strategic investments, policy innovation, and capacity-building initiatives. This research significantly contributes to the study of sustainable energy by evaluating the criticality of integrating policies and technology for implementing DC microgrids as a key factor in achieving sustainable energy access in Indonesia.

The health economic-industrial complex: production and innovation for universal health access, Brazil.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has highlighted global disparities in accessing essential health products, demonstrating the critical need for low- and middle-income countries to develop local production and innovation capabilities. The health economic-industrial complex approach changed the values that guided innovation and industrial policies in Brazil. The approach directed health production and innovation to universal access; the health ministry led a whole-of-government approach; and public procurement was strategically applied to stimulate productive public and private investments. The institutional, technological and productive capacities built up by the health economic-industrial complex allowed the country to quickly establish local COVID-19 vaccines production and guarantee access for the population. Brazil has a universal health system that guarantees access to health for its 215 million population. Public policies and actions, based on the health economic-industrial complex, guided investment projects in line with health demands, strengthened local producers, and increased autonomy in the production of health products in areas of greater technological dependence. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the country was able to rapidly scale up local vaccine production. By August 2021, Brazil had produced 74.8% (151 463 502/202 437 516) of the vaccine doses used in the country. The Brazilian example shows that low- and middle-income countries can build systemic development policies that increase their capability to produce and innovate in concert with universal health systems. This increased capacity can guarantee access to health products and supplies that are critical during global health emergencies.

Innovation for a Greener Future: Disentangling the Asymmetric Impact of Green Finance on Green Technology in European Union Economies

Green finance has originated as a critical factor for green development, where green technology innovation is a primary approach. Yet, limited information is available regarding how green finance influences green technological creation. This work probes the asymmetric linkage between green finance and green technology innovation in the selected European Union countries (Germany, Sweden, France, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, and Finland). Prior works adopted panel data methods to get usual outcomes concerning the green finance-green technology nexus, nevertheless the reality is that various nations did not establish such connection separately. The present work, in contrast, utilizes a peculiar tool, 'Quantile-on-Quantile,' that facilitates research to probe temporal reliance in entire nations by giving global yet economy-specific intuitions on the variables’ correlation. Estimates exhibit that green finance enhances green technology innovation in almost all our chosen economies at definite quantiles of data distribution. Furthermore, the outcomes expose that the degree of asymmetry throughout various quantiles of our variables differs by the economy, emphasising the relevance of policymakers paying particular consideration while employing green innovation and green finance policies.

Efficiency of Innovation Policy with Different Types of R&D Planning: Evidence from South Korea’s Information and Communication Technology Sector

Efficiency of Innovation Policy with Different Types of R&D Planning: Evidence from South Korea’s Information and Communication Technology Sector

Assessing the role of technological districts in regional innovation policies: a network analysis of collaborative R&D projects

Assessing the role of technological districts in regional innovation policies: a network analysis of collaborative R&D projects

Can We Realize a Real State of Medical Equity?

Achieving a real state of medical equity remains a challenging and complex goal within the healthcare system. Despite efforts to address disparities in healthcare access, treatment, and outcomes, significant barriers persist for marginalized communities. Structural inequalities rooted in race, socioeconomic status, geography, and education play a critical role in perpetuating inequities in healthcare delivery. To realize true medical equity, it is imperative to address these underlying factors through innovative policies and initiatives that prioritize equitable resource allocation, culturally competent care practices, and community engagement. Collaborative efforts between policymakers, healthcare providers, researchers, and community leaders are essential to reshaping our current healthcare system and ensuring that all individuals have equal opportunities to receive high-quality, person-centered care regardless of their background or circumstances. By working together towards the common goal of achieving medical equity, we can create a more just and inclusive healthcare system for everyone.

A system dynamics approach for the development of a Regional Innovation System

Regions play an important role in the global economy by driving research and innovation policies through a major tool, the Regional Innovation System (RIS). The RIS is a social system that encompasses the systematic interaction of the various organizations that comprise it, to improve local knowledge and innovation. It consists of interconnections of various public and private sector institutions, whose activities and interactions create, introduce and diffuse innovations. This paper outlines the methodology employed in developing and validating a mathematical model of Regional Innovation Systems, utilizing the system dynamics approach. To provide a demonstration of the aforementioned concept, the proposed model will then be implemented in the RIS of two specific regions in Greece, namely Western and Central Macedonia. Within this context, various policies will be formulated to modify the indicators of Smart Technology, with the objective of assessing their influence on the overall regional development of the aforementioned regions. The model focuses on the functional structure of the RIS, separating it in six diverse, interacting subsystems consisting of different components, captured by a total of 38 different factors which can be quantitatively assessed.

FINANCING GREEN ENERGY FOR ENHANCING ENERGY SECURITY IN UKRAINE

This paper examines the financing of green energy initiatives as a critical element in strengthening Ukraine's energy security, especially in the context of post-war reconstruction and the need for sustainable and resilient energy infrastructure. The study aims to assess the potential and challenges of investing in green energy in Ukraine, considering the destruction caused by Russian military actions in the winter of 2022-2023, and the need for recovery based on sustainable models. In this regard, the obtained results emphasize the importance of creating a reliable and decarbonized energy sector, driven by both domestic needs and international cooperation with the EU and other partners. The analysis shows that despite strong support for the green energy transition, the development of the sector is hindered by the high capital intensity required for green technologies, which are often not competitive without government subsidies. This requires a careful balance between innovation and commercial viability of green energy projects, highlighting the need for public and private investments in technologies that can compete with traditional sources of energy in the long term and developing new financing tools for Ukraine. The conclusions indicate that a multifaceted approach is needed to ensure Ukraine's energy future and minimize risks. Such an approach should include policy reforms, strategic investments in proven green technologies, and fostering partnerships to bridge the commercialization gap. Policymakers face the dual challenge of accelerating the energy transition while managing financial constraints exacerbated by military spending, highlighting the trade-off between rapid development and the risks associated with financing innovation. Overall, this study contributes to the understanding of how green energy financing mechanisms can enhance Ukraine's energy security, suggesting broader implications for policy, investment, and technological innovation in the context of Ukraine's post-war recovery and future resilience.

China’s distinctive civil–military integration policy and firm innovation

Abstract Despite the widespread implementation of civil–military integration (CMI) policies in various countries, there remains a significant debate surrounding their impact on innovation. Taking the set of the National Civil–Military Integration Strategy in China in 2015 as a quasi-natural experiment, this paper uses the Propensity Score Matching and Difference in Difference (PSM-DID) method to systematically examine the impact of CMI policy on firm innovation. The results demonstrate that the CMI policy has notably increased the intensity of firms’ Research and Development (R&D) investment, but does not exert a significant influence on their innovation output and efficiency. Notably, the policy effect is primarily observed among incumbent military firms and large-scale firms. Moreover, the CMI policy exhibits a considerable effect on fostering new cooperation links, but does not yield a significant impact on deepening cooperation or promoting network agglomeration. The results imply that the policy has not yet deeply affected firms’ innovation processes and patterns. These findings provide manifold implications for policy understanding and decision-making.

Closing the Loop: Exploring Food Waste Management in the Near East and North Africa (NENA) Region during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted global food waste patterns through unanticipated shifts in composition and quantities. This review explores the impacts of COVID-19 on food waste generation and management approaches in the Near East and North Africa (NENA) region during the recovery phase. This paper comprehensively explores food loss and waste in the NENA region. It presents a detailed analysis of pandemic-induced changes in household food waste behaviors, analyses the integration of circular economy principles in recovery strategies and policy implications, and outlines potential avenues for future research in this critical area. The key findings are threefold: First, this study reaffirms that food waste is a critical challenge in NENA, contributing to food insecurity, water scarcity, and environmental issues. Second, the pandemic catalyzed a dichotomy in consumer behaviors—panic buying initially increased waste, while hardship measures later encouraged sustainable waste reduction practices like meal planning and leftover use. Third, adopting a circular economy approach holds potential, yet its implementation remains limited in terms of curbing food waste and promoting sustainability in NENA. Overall, while the pandemic accentuated the urgency of tackling food waste, it also stimulated innovative policy thinking and strategic planning for building more resilient food systems. This paper concludes that leveraging pandemic-driven sustainability mindsets while addressing systemic drivers of waste will be key to mitigating food waste and its impacts moving forward. This paper offers timely insights into the evolving food waste management landscape in NENA, underscoring the need for integrated policies to navigate post-pandemic recovery effectively.

Integration and Enabling: Macao's Social Policy Shift during Post-Pandemic Era

The COVID-19 epidemic has had a great impact on the economies of various countries, and social policies are also facing a period of major adjustment opportunities. According to people's expectations, it is necessary to re-examine the supply mechanism of social welfare through social policy innovation. As a result of the epidemic, Macao's economic fluctuations are exacerbated and the government's fiscal revenue has declined. This has led to a certain degree of vulnerability in the social welfare system dominated by government financial investment, which directly affects the stability and sustainability of Macao's social policy system. Based on the challenges and countermeasures of the epidemic in Macao, this paper proposes that it is necessary to further integrate existing social policies, build a social safety net, strengthen investment in human capital, enhance residents' ability to resist social risks in pursuit of welfare, promote economic development through social policy adjustment to balance government-market-individual welfare responsibilities, establish sustainable social policies, and push for high-quality social development. 

THE ROLE OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN IMPROVING REGIONAL INNOVATION CAPABILITY: A CRITICAL LITERATURE REVIEW IN THE CONTEXT OF THE ASIAN REGION

This literature review explores the role of local governments in enhancing local innovation capabilities in the context of Asian regions, and specifically identifies the challenges local governments face in this endeavor, as well as solutions to overcome these challenges. Using a systematic literature review approach, this study critiques selected articles that are highly dominated by studies in China in addition to Taiwan and South Korea. Over the past decade, studies on this topic have continued to emerge and be published in high quality publication sources. The results of the critical review of the selected articles show that the main role and challenge of local government in enhancing local innovation capability is highly dependent on the ability to manage various innovation resources. To overcome these challenges, local governments are encouraged to promote cooperation and collaboration with key stakeholders in the regional innovation system, namely universities and industry. This paper contributes to the growing literature on regional innovation policy and motivates the practice of place-based innovation policy in the context of Asian regions. Future research directions are encouraged to focus on a broader range of Asian regions or on specific innovation contexts that reflect the characteristics of Asian regions.

The Manufacturing Reshoring Phenomenon: A Policy-Oriented Analysis of Factors Driving the Location Decision

For several decades, multinational enterprises (MNEs) have offshored their manufacturing activities to low-cost countries to achieve significant productivity gains. However, changes in the relative competitiveness of countries, social effects of deindustrialization in advanced economies and the vulnerability of global value chains (GVCs) revealed by the COVID-19 pandemic have encouraged some firms, supported by governments, to “reshore” part, or all of their offshore industrial operations back to their home country. Reshoring decisions are motivated by a variety of endogenous and exogenous factors that are empirically analyzed in this paper to understand how reshoring policies implemented by governments can more effectively address the factors driving the firms’ location decisions. A review of the reshoring policies implemented in Europe, the UK and the US is conducted to provide general policy recommendations regarding policy instruments, SMEs, innovation and regionalization of value chains. This paper fills a gap in the literature by connecting the micro-level supply chain management analysis of firms’ reshoring drivers with the macro-level economic policy perspective on reshoring. The review of existing reshoring policies calls for an in-depth analysis by the manufacturing sector and at the local level.

Research and Innovation of a Community Intelligent Pension Service System: Taking Longhua District, Shenzhen, China, as an Example

With the aging of China's population, as a new model combining information technology and high-quality elderly care services, the topic of smart elderly care continues to warm up and has immediately attracted widespread attention. With the innovation of Internet technology, elderly people and families are in demand of the smart pension industry, and national policies have issued a series of policies and plans to encourage the development of smart pensions, allowing the innovation and design of China's smart elderly service system to fully expand. However, the research shows that from the perspective of the macro development of China's smart pension industry, the overall operation system is not mature, the talent gap is more accurate, there are fewer services, and it is still in the market development stage. This paper focuses on the Shenzhen Longhua District, which is a local part of the community wisdom endowment service industry chain investigation. The analysis of the current pension service system development is not mature enough, and it does not completely combine Internet technology and wisdom endowment. Additionally, because the economic strength and cultural level limit of wisdom endowment service acceptance are not high, the policy support for community wisdom endowment is not large enough. On this basis, this paper draws on the excellent successful experience at home and abroad. From the perspective of three aspects and put forward opinions for innovation, first, the innovation of community smart elderly care service technology, which combines Internet information technology and elderly care services organically, improves the quality of life and the happiness index of elderly people. Second, the innovation of community smart elderly care services, including the full use of medical institutions to provide 24-hour rehabilitation monitoring, remote monitoring services, and personalized and differentiated services, are tailored for elderly people. Third, the national policy innovation of community elderly care services, through policy guidance and support, promotes the healthy development of community elderly care services to provide better quality and convenient pension services for elderly people. The author believes that in the future, community elderly care services will be more professional and standardized, and a set of digital systems and service standards with scientific standards and rules will be established to ensure the quality of service and personalized demand.

Innovations in pharmaceutical policies and learnings for sustainable access to affordable medicines

Innovations in pharmaceutical policies and learnings for sustainable access to affordable medicines

Imagining and governing artificial intelligence: the ordoliberal way—an analysis of the national strategy ‘AI made in Germany’

AbstractNational Artificial Intelligence (AI) strategies articulate imaginaries of the integration of AI into society and envision the governing of AI research, development and applications accordingly. To integrate these central aspects of national AI strategies under one coherent perspective, this paper presented an analysis of Germany’s strategy ‘AI made in Germany’ through the conceptual lens of ordoliberal political rationality. The first part of the paper analyses how the guiding vision of a human-centric AI not only adheres to ethical and legal principles consistent with Germany’s liberal democratic constitutional system but also addresses the risks and promises inherent to the ordoliberal problematization of freedom. Second, it is scrutinized how the strategy cultivates the fear of not achieving technological sovereignty in the AI sector. Thereby, it frames the global AI race as a race of competing (national) approaches to governing AI and articulates an ordoliberal approach to governing AI (the ‘third way’), according to which government has to operate between the twin dangers of governing too much and not governing enough. Third, the paper analyses how this ordoliberal proportionality of governing structures Germany’s Science Technology & Innovation Policy. It is shown that the corresponding risk-based approach of regulating AI constitutes a security apparatus as it produces an assessment of fears: weighting the fear of the failure to innovate with the fear of the ramifications of innovation. Finally, two lines of critical engagement based on this analysis are conducted.