National Innovation System Approach Research Articles

Interpreting the Role of the State in Innovation Transformation:Review of “Dual Roles of the State: A National Innovation System Approach for Development and Transformation Analysis”

This article reviews the book “Dual Roles of the State: A National Innovation System Approach for Development and Transformation Analysis” by Feng Kaidong from Peking University. The neoclassical economic paradigm has limited explanatory power for innovation because it fails to grasp the non-linear, knowledge reticent character of innovation. The book explains the logic of innovation market interaction at the level of micro-network interactions. Unlike the perfect market, which is coordinated by price, the interaction between subjects in the innovation market is an organized process of mutual discovery and cooperative knowledge exchange. The “organized” market surpasses the perfect market because it is more in line with the information structure of innovation knowledge. The key to successful innovation is a smooth transition between public and private knowledge, and the best option for unlocking the knowledge conversion mechanism is the government. The state plays two roles in the innovation system: one is as an important institutional supplier and resource allocator for innovation activities, and the other is as a key driver of the transformation of the innovation economic system. Innovation transformation requires a concentration of resources by the state in strategic industries, and the transformation requires state capabilities such as the ability to allocate resources on a large scale and an information feedback mechanism that can identify strategic industries. Based on the historical analysis of innovation transformation in developed countries, the book explores the process and ways in which countries with successful transformation experiences acquire the national capabilities required for transformation, and provides new references for China's autonomous innovation system construction.

Persistent Developmental Limits to Devising Policy Innovation for Innovation Policies in Emerging Economies

Promising industrial profiles of Southeast Asian emerging economies have met their developmental limits in the face of the Asian Financial Crisis in the late 1990s. However, following the crisis, they have not been successful in upscaling the technological competitiveness of their industries. By applying the national innovation system approach originally developed in advanced western economies as an institutional mechanism of policy innovation in light of developmentalism, I seek to explain these persistent developmental limits in Malaysia and Indonesia. My qualitative research examines literature discussing policy coordination mechanisms in innovation policies and policy documents containing coordination mechanisms involving firms, universities, and government agencies; then, how these issues implicate innovation policies in the two countries. I employ a comparative institutional analysis between them focusing on institutional characteristics of the national innovation systems, specifically their institutional obstacles occurring within development paths amidst prevailing political environments. I suggest that persistent developmental limits in Malaysia and Indonesia result from systemic failures of achieving developmental aims regardless of their politico-administrative regimes. Existing institutional frameworks of the national innovation systems, entrenched in the socio-economic prevalence of the two countries, have not fit the nations’ developmental aims pursued upon innovation upgrading.

Innovation policy for economic development: The difficult but promising adequacy in the case of Senegal

We use the National Innovation System (NIS) approach to analyze the performance of innovation policy of the sub-Saharan economy: the Senegal. The NIS approach makes it possible to understand how actors create and disseminate new knowledge, in a context of economic growth and economic development. By offering tools adapted to innovation policies, we carry out a case study of Senegal, based on secondary data, which allows us both to verify the incompleteness of its innovation system but above all to analyze why building competencies in this country is so laborious and does not encourage economic development. On a theoretical level, this paper provides new insights into innovation policy in the poorest economies. Empirically, it sheds light on the main obstacles to achieving this towards an inclusive economy based on knowledge and learning.

Identifying enablers of innovation in developed economies: A National Innovation Systems approach

It has been recognized that innovation drives the long-run economic growth of nations and increasingly governments are placing innovation at the center of their economic growth strategies. International variation in the investment on innovation presents an opportunity to examine key enablers of innovation-driving policy choices. Countries find themselves at different stages of economic development and innovation performance and so their relative levels of innovation inputs and outputs are likely to be different. In this study we employ a systems of innovation approach to examine what enables improvements in innovation potential among developed countries. Using data from the 2017 Global Innovation Index (GII) Report, we subjected 770 data measures to an analysis of 242 relationships involving changes in the GII’s innovation inputs/outputs scores and overall innovation potential of 35 OECD countries over a five year period (2012 to 2016). Our findings suggest that instituting policies that improve access to open and competitive markets is the most significant enabler for raising a developed country’s innovation potential.

FinTech Crowdfunding of Thailand 4.0 Policy

This study explores the challenges of FinTech crowdfunding platforms. Under the policy of moving the country toward Thailand 4.0, the Thai government has placed importance on a value-based and innovation-driven economy. Empirical analyses, based on the national innovation system approach, have shown that the Thai government plays a key role in building a crowdfunding platform to provide entrepreneurial finance for start-ups. The findings indicate the barriers both at the policy and operation levels underlying the Thai financial innovation system. This article provides insightful lessons and implications to strengthen the FinTech crowdfunding platform for promoting knowledge-intensive economic growth.

The relationship between national innovative capability and performance in Europea

Purpose: The aim of this study is to empirically investigate the relationships between capacity and performance indicators of National Innovation Systems in European countries over the period from 2000 to 2014. Methodology: As an analytical tool in order to examine the dynamics of innovation process at macro level, we used National innovation System approach which has had a large scope in innovation literature over the last decades. In this analytical framework, we employed Canonical Correlation Method to empirically examine the relationships between two variable set of capacity and performance components. National innovation capacity is represented by the dimensions of Research and Development activities, Human Capital and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure. Dimensions of invention and innovation are chosen the proxies for performance components of NIS. Thus, this study applies an empirical method to get different capability dimensions of system together in order to determine their effectiveness on innovation performance. Findings : Results of the empirical study reveal that the most significant contribution to innovation performance comes from Human Capital while dimensions of ICT infrastructure and Research and Development take second and third place, respectively. In addition, it seems that educational attainment and ICT-using levels are better indicators for determining the impacts of Human Capital and ICT infrastructure on innovation performance rather than the levels of education spending and ICT investment. Conclusion: As generally argued, increasing of R&D intensity at country level is not only sufficient condition for improving innovation system in Europe. Accordingly, innovation policies like European Union focusing on an R&D–to-GDP ratio 3% is not enough without providing the requirements for an appropriate human capital development in national innovation system.

Global innovation index: Moving beyond the absolute value of ranking with a fuzzy-set analysis

This study applies a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis to data from the Global Innovation Index (GII). Building on the National Innovation System's approach, this study posits that a country can achieve high innovation performance via several combinations of causal conditions. These conditions are the five input enablers of GII: institutions, human capital and research, infrastructure, market sophistication, and business sophistication. By defining two subsamples of countries (high-income and low-income), this study finds that several causal combinations of conditions lead to high innovation performance in both groups. In order to obtain better innovation performance, the low-income countries show more multifaceted solutions. These results indicate that none of the conditions is necessary for predicting high innovation performance in both samples. Additionally, in the low-income group, none of the conditions, individually, is sufficient to predict higher innovation performance, while in the high-income group the infrastructure and human capital and research conditions, on their own, are sufficient to obtain better innovation performance. These results indicate that the political decision-making processes required for improving the level of innovation need to be different for each group of countries.

Towards the Detroit of Asia: Empirical research insights of Thailand's OEM strategy

The automotive industry is one of the strategic clusters of Thailand. This study explores Thailand's national innovation system (NIS) strategy and cluster policies in driving the automotive industry towards the Detroit of Asia. The analysis of automotive cluster is based on Porter's Diamond Model and NIS framework. Unlike other Asian countries that competed and moved forward with the own brand manufacture (OBM) strategies, Thailand took a different NIS approach in competition to become the automotive manufacturing hub of Southeast Asia. The results provide lessons and insightful strategic implications for other newly industrialized countries (NICs) attempting to move up the technological ladders.

Higher education and economic development: The importance of building technological capabilities

Higher education and development has not been a priority of global policy or research funding in recent decades. Yet, since the millennium, Southern governments have become believers in the global knowledge economy and higher education enrolment growth has been phenomenal. In this paper we offer an original account of how higher education institutions contribute to economic development by drawing on evolutionary economics and the national innovation systems approach. This offers distinct advantages in conceptualising higher education’s developmental role, through its stress on the importance of education, skills, work, innovation and production for economic development. Using these concepts, we examine how well South African higher education is positioned to contribute to economic development through a consideration of two case studies from astronomy and automotives. These highlight the importance of the intersection between global, national, sectoral and spatial dimensions of the education—economic development relationship. We suggest that dynamics at multiple scalar levels work in complex ways to shape possibilities for development. We argue that such an approach offers a way forward for international education and development thinking about the relationship between education, technological innovation, production and development.

National Innovation Systems: From Conception toward the Methodology of Analysis

The seminal contributions of the neoclassical economic theory, the evolutionary and neo-Schumpeterian approaches in establishing the concept of national innovation system (NIS) are considered. The study is aimed to identify the challenges that the new concept has met. The advantages and bottlenecks of the emerging theory and practice are taken into account. In the study, an attempt is made to offset the shortcomings of the NIS approach and reveal its weaknesses. As a result, an approach to developing research methodology of NIS is proposed. The system structure-object and functional approaches give a basis of this concept.

NATIONAL SYSTEM OF INNOVATION: A NOTE ON TECHNOLOGICAL ASYMMETRIES AND CATCHING‑UP PERSPECTIVES

What distinguishes the National Innovation System (NIS) across different countries? Could the NIS be considered a useful analytical framework to explain growth performances? Which kind of representation can supersede the "push policy view" of NIS approach? These questions are worthy of particular attention for the understanding of potential empirical and analytical achievements of this approach. This paper discusses the main approaches that explain technological divergence and convergence. It is argued that another element identified as the "national institutional dimension" has to be explicitly taken into account for the understanding of the interplay that exists between technology, specialization and growth. It also provides a macro‑representation of NIS which potentially captures and identifies at the micro, meso and macro levels the main threads that link innovation, institutions, competencies and economic performances, as well as a simple graphical model of the interplay between NIS, competencies and growth performances.

Transnationalizing innovation systems by transplanting innovation platforms

The feasibility of the concept of a national innovation system (NIS) in the globalizing world had already been questioned in its early days and recently long-time advocates of the NIS approach have also raised their doubts. Along with more traditional facilitating policy model, we propose conceptually platform-based policy models with four subcategories that can be considered as appropriate in relation to innovation policies that intend to deal with an increasing rate of border-crossing innovation activities. Building on the views of system and governance failure, we also argue that a community-oriented approach might provide more systemic and hence more efficient and self-sustaining linkages between regional innovation systems that are located in different countries. We will introduce some recent policy measures from the Nordic countries, especially from Finland but also from Denmark, in order to link the conceptual discussion to real-life policies. The purpose is by no means narrowly restricted to an empirical categorization of the Nordic cases, but to outline stylized policy models related to the internationalization of an innovation system that could be applied more generally when designing or analysing policies.

Position of the Countries in Nanotechnology and Global Competitiveness

The national innovation systems approach stresses that the flows of technology and information among people, companies and institutions (universities, government research institutes and other research institutions) are key to the innovative process. Innovation and technology development are the result of a complex set of relationships among actors in the system. High levels of technical collaboration, technology diffusion and personnel mobility contribute to the improved innovative capacity of a country (in terms of products, patents, etc.) (OECD, 1996, p. 7). A key factor for commercialized innovation and economic development is the nanotechnology development and the «general technology development strength» of each nation (Hwang, 2010). Accordingly, nanotechnology innovations are one of the sources of the competitive advantage of a country.

Beyond the “Charmed Circle” of OECD: New Directions for Studies of National Innovation Systems

In this paper, we engage with the widespread and influential approach of National Innovation Systems (NIS). We discuss its adequacy to non-OECD countries, especially in Latin America where it tends to be reified. Although the NIS approach is meant to address the most pressing needs of the economies it applies to, we argue that it would benefit from developing a more encompassing scope, allowing integration of greater diversity and complexity. By retracing the history of regimes of science, technology and innovation in Latin America, we explore the following paradox: whereas numerous Southern scholars urge the pressing need to develop an innovation agenda for Southern countries with a “Southern framework of thought”, they continue to heavily rely on a reductionist version of the NIS-approach that prevents such a “Southern perspective” to fully emerge. This creates problems for actors willing to use NIS more reflexively, and it also affects the effectivity of science, technology and innovation (STI) policies in non-OECD countries. We formulate a research agenda with three suggestions for further engaging NIS both conceptually and practically. Using such analytical perspectives, we argue, might benefit both to scholarly work about NIS, but could also allow for a better articulation with STI regimes in Southern countries.

Factors Affecting the Efficiency of the BRICSs' National Innovation Systems: A Comparative Study Based on Dea and Panel Data Analysis

Efficiency scores for the national innovation systems (NISs) in 22 countries including the BRICS and the G7 are calculated using data envelopment analysis (DEA). Factors that may affect the efficiency of the NIS are summarized based on the NIS approach and the new growth theory. Empirical evidence is provided using panel data analysis and principal component analysis. The results of the efficiency calculations and the empirical tests show the following. (1) The BRICS differ greatly in the efficiency of their NISs, with China, India, and Russia ranking fairly high, and Brazil and South Africa ranking low. (2) In accordance with the NIS approach and the new growth theory, there are many factors that affect the NISs including ICT infrastructure, enterprise R&D, market environment, governance, education systems, economic scale, natural endowments, and external dependence. (3) Enterprise innovation is of particular importance for the NISs. To improve the efficiency of innovation systems, efforts should be made to improve the market conditions, governance, and financial structures, and create a sound environment for R&D. (4) ICT infrastructure, economic scale, and openness affect the diffusion of knowledge and technology, and in turn affect NIS efficiency. (5) The BRICS have low governance levels and a high dependency on natural resources, both of which are determined by their stage of development and extensive growth patterns. To avoid the so- called middle-income trap, the BRICS should transform their factor-driven growth patterns into innovation-driven growth patterns. China still needs to improve its ICT infrastructure, its governance systems, and its education system. During its 12th five-year plan, more effort should be devoted to these fields and to improving external conditions for R&D.

Influence of government R&D support and inter-firm collaborations on innovation in Korean biotechnology SMEs

Although the development of biotechnology industry has been a national agenda, particularly in developing countries, few studies address factors that influence innovation performance in countries with unfavorable environments for biotechnology development. This paper examines the effects of inter-firm collaborations as well as the direct and indirect effects of government R&D support on innovation outputs. It is predicated on the national innovation system approach and the resource-based view. Data from 2005 through 2007 were obtained from a survey of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in biotechnology in South Korea. Findings show that upstream partnerships were significantly associated with the innovation output of biotechnology SMEs, and international linkages were much stronger than domestic connections. The government support through project funding directly and indirectly affects firms' innovation by stimulating internal R&D and domestic upstream and downstream collaborations. The study findings imply the importance of governmental R&D funding and networking with foreign universities and research institutions as well as downstream partners. These Korea specific findings seem particularly relevant for countries where private investment firms are not well developed and knowledge bases and markets lag behind leading nations.

Building national innovation platform in China: theoretical exploration and empirical study

PurposeChina has been putting into effect a program of “national innovation platforms (NIPs)” since 2008. Because it is still at an experimental stage, some key issues remain ambiguous. The purpose of this paper is to conduct a theoretical exploration and empirical study on the NIP program to present the theoretical foundation and draw out implications for its future practice.Design/methodology/approachBased on the literature review of national innovation system (NIS) approach, this paper develops an analytical framework for analyzing the mechanism of NIP. Then an in‐depth case study further validates the framework.FindingsNIP is a practice under the guidance of NIS approach. It effectively accomplishes interaction and cooperation between different actors and encourages flow of innovation resources. Based on NIP of textile industry, managerial and operational implications are drawn out.Research limitations/implicationsInvestigation of this paper is limited to a single industry. The result of the NIP program remains to be seen in the future.Originality/valueThe theoretical study about NIP practice in China is original. The framework derived from NIS theory helps theoretical development in future research and guides future practice.

The Brazilian sugarcane innovation system

Ethanol has recently been of great interest worldwide because it is a viable economic alternative to petroleum products and it is a renewable source of energy that mitigates the emission of greenhouse gases. Brazilian bioethanol from sugarcane is the most successful case at the world level because of its low cost and low level of greenhouse gas emissions. Brazil’s success with sugarcane cannot be understood as based solely on a natural comparative advantage, but as a result of efforts that culminated in a positive trajectory of technological learning, relying mostly on incremental innovations. The purpose of this article is to analyze the key aspects of the innovation system built around the Brazilian sugarcane industry. It is based on the national innovation systems approach according to which innovation results from the interaction of different institutional actors. Institutional arrangements are analyzed as the basis for the innovative process, in particular R&D and the innovation policies and strategies of the main players in the sugarcane sector, including sugar and ethanol mills, industrial goods suppliers, public and private research institutions, and governmental agencies.

National innovation systems for China and India: an analytical framework and a comparative analysis

There are different development modes and connotations behind the fast economic growth of China and India. National Innovation Systems (NISs) have built an effective frame of economy growth in a knowledge-oriented era. Under the NIS approach, this paper analyses China and India's innovation systems from three parts, including the innovation environment, innovation operations and economic performance subsystems. The paper provides some comments based on the comparative results.

International Confidence Building; A Requirement for National Capacity Building

This paper underlines the importance of the confidence building in the course of technology capacity building. To make the point, it adopts a conceptual model called Closed System with Dynamic process (CSD) and substantiate it with historical and current examples. It concludes that the inclusion of security considerations into the research program of national innovation systems (NIS), as a focusing tool, enables it to cover such security sensitive regions as the Middle East. It also lends a critical angle, through which the factor of international trust as one of the preconceived notions underlying NIS approach will be more clearly acknowledged.