National Innovation Systems: A Retrospective on a Study

Abstract

In this essay I will describe a large comparative study of national innovation systems that was recently completed, tell something of what motivated the study and how it was organized and undertaken, and highlight some of the more interesting findings. This is a difficult task, for the project was not only large but also complex.

A volume, containing the full study, was published in 1993, under the title of National Innovation Systems: A Comparative Study, by the Oxford University Press. Funding for the project was provided by the American Enterprise Institute, Columbia University’s Center for Japanese Economy and Business, the German Marshall Fund of the United States, and the Sloan Foundation through its support of the Consortium on Competition and Cooperation. Conferences which played an essential role in the progress of the project were hosted by the School of International and Public Affairs of Columbia University, MERIT, SPRU, and CEPR of Stanford University.