Regional innovation systems within a federation: Do national policies affect all regions equally?
Adam Holbrook
Centre for Policy Research on Science and Technology (CPROST), Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada
Monica Salazar
Centre for Policy Research on Science and Technology (CPROST), Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada
PP: 50
Abstract
The concept of national innovation systems was first developed to describe the process of innovation in developed economies. The approach has shifted from solely a national perspective to one including regional or local systems.
This focus on spatial aspects has two major advantages: it recognizes that innovation is a social process and a geographic process. For federations, the national system of innovation is more complex than that of a unitary system, since there are often provincial/state level institutions and actors that parallel national level institutions and actors.
Canada is one of the few true economic and social (as well as political) federations in the developed world. Consequently, it provides a unique laboratory for studies on the processes of innovation in regions and regional innovation systems. This paper reports on the initial results of research on the characteristics of industrial clusters being carried out through the (Canadian) Innovation Systems Research Network - ISRN.
Keywords
national innovation systems, regional innovation systems, federations, science, technology and innovation policy, regional clusters
References
Acs Z, de la Mothe J and Paquet G (1996). Local systems of innovation: in search of an enabling strategy, in P Howitt (ed) The Implications of Knowledge-Based Growth for Micro-Economic Policies. Calgary: The University of Calgary Press.
Asheim B and Isaksen A (2002). Regional Innovation Systems: The Integration of Local Sticky and Global Ubiquitous Knowledge. Journal of Technology Transfer 27(1): 77-86.
Braczyk H-J and Heidenreich M (1998). Conclusion: Regional governance structures in a globalized world, in H-J Braczyk, P Cooke and M Heidenreich (eds) Regional Innovation Systems - The Role of Governances in a Globalized World: UCL.
Cooke P (1998) Introduction: Origins of the concept, in H-J Braczyk, P Cooke and M Heidenreich (eds) Regional Innovation Systems - The Role of Governances in a Globalized World. London: UCL.
Cooke P (2002) Towards regional science policy? The rationale from biosciences. Paper presented at the Conference ‘Rethinking science policy: Analytical frameworks for evidence-based policy', Brighton.
Cooke P, Boekholt P and Todtling F (2000) The Governance of Innovation in Europe: Regional Perspectives on Global Competitiveness. London: Pinter.
Coucherne T (1995) Glocalization: The regional/international interface. Canadian Journal of Regional Science 18(1): Spring.
Edquist C (1997a) Systems of Innovation Approaches - Their Emergence and Characteristics, in C Edquist (ed) Systems of Innovation: Technologies, Institutions and Organization. London: Pinter.
Edquist C (ed) (1997b) Systems of Innovation: Technologies, Institutions and Organizations. London: Pinter.
Gertler M, Florida R, Gates G and Vinodrai T (2002) ‘Competing on creativity: Placing Ontario's cities in North American Context'. Unpublished manuscript, Toronto.
Hart D (2001). Governmental organization and implications for science and technology policy, in J de la Mothe (ed) Science, Technology and Governance. New York: Continuum.
Holbrook JA and Hughes L (1998). Innovation in Enterprises in British Columbia, in J de la Mothe and G Paquet (eds) Local and Regional Systems of Innovation. Dordrecht: Kluwer.
Holbrook JA and Wolfe DA (2000). Introduction: Innovation Studies in a Regional Perspective, in JA Holbrook and D Wolfe (eds) Innovation, Institutions and Territory - Regional Innovation Systems in Canada. Montreal and Kingston, London, Ithaca: School of Policy Studies, Queen's University Press.
Josty P (2002) The Alberta Innovation System: The main players and suggested research priorities, in JH Chrisman and JA Chua (ed) Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Western Canada: From Family Business to Multinationals, pp.77-109. Calgary: University of Calgary Press.
Langford C, Wood J and Ross T (2002) ‘Origins and structure of the Calgary wireless cluster'. Unpublished manuscript, Quebec City.
Latouche D (1998) Do regions make a difference? - The case of science and technology in Quebec, in H-J Braczyk, P Cooke and M Heidenreich (eds) Regional Innovation Systems - The Role of Governances in a Globalized World: UCL.
Lundvall B-A (ed) (1992) National Innovation Systems: Towards a Theory of Innovation and Interactive Learning. London: Pinter.
Nauwelaers C and Reid A (1995) ‘Innovative regions? A comparative review of methods of evaluating regional innovation potential'. Unpublished manuscript, Luxembourg.
Nelson R and Rosenberg N (1993). Technical innovation and national systems, in R Nelson (ed) National Innovation Systems: A Comparative Analysis. New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Niosi J (2002) Regional systems of innovation: Market Pull and Government Push, in JA Holbrook and D Wolfe (eds) Knowledge, Clusters and Regional Innovation: Economic Development in Canada, pp.39-55. Montreal and Kingston, London, Ithaca: School of Policy Studies - Queens University.
Niosi J and Bas T (2001). The competence of regions - Canada's cluster in biotechnology. Small Business Economics 17: 31-42.
OECD OfECaD (1997) Managing National Innovation Systems. Paris: Committee for Science and Technology Policy, OECD.
Phillips P (2002) Regional Systems of Innovation as modern R&D entrepots: The case of the Saskatoon biotechnology cluster, in J Chrisman, JA Holbrook and JH Chua (eds) Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Western Canada: From Family Business, pp.31-58. Calgary: University of Calgary Press.
Porter M (1998) Cluster and the new economics of competition. Harvard Business Review Nov-Dec: 77-90.
Porter M (2000) Location, Competition and Economic Development: Local clusters in a global economy. Economic Development Quarterly 14(1): 15-34.
Rosenfeld SA (1997) Bringing business clusters into the mainstream of economic development. European Planning Studies 5(1): 3-23.
Salazar M (1994) ‘The state and the development of technological capabilities: Implications for Latin American countries'. Unpublished MSc Thesis, University of Manchester.
Staber U and Morrison C (2000) The empirical foundations of industrial district theory, in JA Holbrook and D Wolfe (eds) Innovation, Institutions and Territory - Regional Innovation Systems in Canada. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press.
Watts R (2001) Models of federal power sharing. International Social Sciences Journal 53: 23-32.
Wilson D and Souitaris V (2002) Do Germany's federal and land governments (still) co-ordinate their innovation policies? Research Policy 31: 1123-1140.
Wolfe D (2002) Social Capital and Cluster Development in Learning Regions, in JA Holbrook and D Wolfe (eds) Knowledge, Clusters and Regional Innovation: Economic Development in Canada, pp.11-38. Montreal and Kingston, London, Ithaca: School of Policy Studies, Queens University.
Wolfe D and Gertler M (1998) The regional innovation system in Ontario, in H-J Braczyk, P Cooke and M Heidenreich (eds) Regional Innovation Systems - The Role of Governances in a Globalized World: UCL.
eContent Home
