Conceptual Framework and Literature Review

Abstract

This chapter presents the conceptual and theoretical framework, and reviews the literature. The chapter also defines the concepts and describes the definitions and measures of national and regional systems of innovation. The purpose of this chapter is to provide a background for our study, mainly to highlight the importance of systems of innovation for economic development as confirmed in the new growth literature, to motivate the empirical analysis in the next chapters. Based on the background in chapter 2, which shows the economic development challenges and the need for building systems of innovation in the Arab region, and before we turn to the empirical analysis in chapters 4–6 to examine the characteristics and implications of national and regional systems of innovation in the Arab region from national and regional perspectives, it will be useful in this chapter to discuss the conceptual framework and review the literature.