national systems of production,innovation and comp

1Nationalsystemsofproduction,innovationandcompetencebuildingByBengt-ÅkeLundvall,BjörnJohnson,EsbenSlothAndersenandBentDalum,DepartmentofBusinessStudies,AalborgUniversityVersion:27June2001.Abstract:Theauthorshaveworkedoninnovationsystemsformorethanadecade.Thispaperisanattempttotakestock.Insection2wereflectupontheemergenceandfairlyrapiddiffusionoftheconcept‘nationalsystemofinnovation’aswellasrelatedconcepts.Insection3wedescribehowtheAalborgversionoftheconceptevolvedbyacombinationofideasthatmovedfromproductionstructuretowardsincludingallelementsandrelationshipscontributingtoinnovationandcompetencebuilding.Insection4wediscussthechallengesinvolvedbothinatheoreticaldeepeningofafairlynarrowversionoftheconceptandinthemovementtowardthebroaderapproachandinadaptingtheconceptfortheanalysisofpoorcountries.Keywords:Innovationsystem,Economicgrowth,Institutionalchange,Competencebuilding,Economicdevelopment,Innovationpolicy.Correspondingauthor:Bengt-ÅkeLundvall,Fibigerstræde4,DK9220AalborgØ.Tel:[phone].Fax:[phone].E-mail:[e-mail]rshaveworkedindividuallyandcollectivelyondifferentaspectsofinnovationsystemstudiesformorethanadecade.Actuallythecommonresearchprogramleadinguptothisconceptwasestablishedmorethan20yearsago(Andersenetal.,1978;Andersenetal.,1979).Thispaperisanattempttosumupthisworkandindicateinwhatdirectionwebelievefutureworkoninnovationsystemsshouldgo.Inthefirstpartwegivesomebackgroundonhowtheconcept‘nationalsystemofinnovation’hasdevelopedandspread.Inthesecondpart,wetellthestoryabouthowtheAalborg-versionoftheconceptdevelopedfrombeingrootedprimarilyinproductionstructuretowardsincludingallelementsofthesystemcontributingtocompetencebuilding.InthethirdpartwediscussthechallengesinvolvedbothinatheoreticaldeepeningofafairlynarrowversionoftheconceptandinthemovementtowardthebroaderapproachandhowtheconceptcouldbeadaptedinordertobeusefulfortheanalysisofcountriesintheSouth.2.TheemergenceandspreadoftheconceptofnationalsystemsofinnovationWhenusinganartifactlikeacomputeritisnotnecessarytoknowhowandbywhomitwasinvented,developedandintroducedinthemarket.Neitherisitalwaysnecessaryinsocio-economicresearchtoknowhowspecificanalyticaltoolswereshaped.Butfromtimetotimeitmaybeusefultoreflectonhowaconceptsuchas‘nationalinnovation3systems’cameaboutandtoseeinwhatdirectionittendstobedeveloped.Thisisespeciallythecasewhentheconceptcannotbeappliedsmoothlyandwhenattemptsaremadetodevelopitfurther.Butevenwhenthepurposeisjusttoapplytheconceptofnationalinnovationsystemsinaroutine-likemanner,somedegreeofunderstandingofitsbackgroundanddevelopmentmaybequiteuseful.Thereasonisnotleastthattheconceptofnationalsystemsofinnovation—asitsnameclearlyindicates—combinesideastakenfromratherdistinctareasofanalysis:economicpolicy,economicinterdependence,andmoreorlessradicaleconomicchange.Thenewcombinationofsuchelementsintothenationalsystemofinnovationconceptis,ofcourse,muchmoreshakythantheintegrationoftheelementsofatechnologicalinnovationlikethemoderncomputer.Thisfacthastoberecognisedbyusersoftheconceptofnationalsystemsofinnovation.2.1TheunexpecteddiffusionWhentheideaabouttheinnovationsystemapproachwasfirstdiscussedinthemiddleofthe80snobodyexpectedittobecomeaswidelydiffusedasitistoday.TodayOECD,theEuropeanCommissionandUNCTADhaveabsorbedtheconceptasanintegralpartoftheiranalyticalperspective.TheWorldBankandIMFhavebeenmorereluctantbutevenherechangeseemstobetakingplace.TheUSAcademyofSciencehasrecentlybroughttheNationalInnovationSystemintoitsvocabularyandnowusesitasaframeworkforanalyzingscienceandtechnologypolicyintheUS.Sweden,hasgiventheconceptlegitimatestatusinitsownparticularwaybynaminganewcentralgovernmentinstitution(an'ämbetsverk’)VINNOVAwhichstandsfor'theSystemsofInnovationAuthority’.4Itisinterestingtospeculatewhytheconcepthasdiffusedsorapidlyamongscholarsandpolicymakers.Onereasonmaybethatmainstreammacroeconomictheoryandpolicyhavefailedtodeliveranunderstandingandcontrolofthefactorsbehindinternationalcompetitivenessandeconomicdevelopment.Anotherreasonmightbethattheextremedivisionofspecializationamongpolicyinstitutionsandpolicyanalystshasbecomesuchabigpracticalproblemthatananalyticalconceptthathelpstoovercometheseproblemswaswelcomednotleastamongthoseresponsibleforinnovationandsciencepolicy.Itisourimpressionthattheconcepttobeginwithdiffusedtothismorelimitedcommunitybutthatitnowtendstoenterintobroadercirclesofscholarsandpolicymakersfocusingoneconomicgrowthanddevelopment.Thefocusonnationalsystemsisofcoursecontroversialinacontextcharacterizedbyso-calledglobalization.Hereonemightthinkof‘theowlofMinervaflyinginthedusk’andarguethatitisonlywhenaninstitution(inthiscasethenationstate)isbecomingseriouslythreatenedthatwebegintounderstanditsimportanceandfundamentalfunctions.Butitisalsoimportanttonotethatmostempiricalstudiesofhowfarglobalizationprocesseshaveunderminednationalsystemsseemtoindicatethatthenationallevelremainsimportantforcertaininnovationactivities(ArchibugiandMichie,1995;Cantwell,1995;Patel,1995).Inaseriesofstudiesbasedonpaten