Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development oecd 2000 Se ptem ber 20 00

partners by furnishing them with
information, brokerage and match-
ing services. Experience suggests
that governments cannot create net-
works from scratch. They can some-
times reduce firms’ reservations
about in ter-firm co-o peration ,
although building sufficient trust
may take time. Long-term network
facilitation programmes, such as the
United Kingdom’s Foresight pro-
gramme, may help to bring together
government, science and business.
The success of networks may also
depend on other resources, such as
access to a key technology or to
important foreign markets. In some
cases, governments can help to
address such problems.
■
Has the environment 
for innovation 
changed?
There are other factors that have
changed in the environment for
innovation. Human capital has
1985-87
1993-95
30
20
15
10
5
0
40
35
30
25
20
0
1981
1995-97
25
15
10
5
International co-operation in science and technology
United States
Patents invented in collaboration
with foreign inventors (%)
Share of scientific publications with
a foreign co-author (%)
1.
OECD and EU averages are for 1995.
Source: OECD (1999) and National Science Foundation (2000).
Japan
Germany
France
Italy
United Kingdom
Canada
European Union
OECD
United States
Japan
Germany
France
Italy
United Kingdom
Canada
European Union
OECD
1985-87
1993-95
30
20
15
10
5
0
40
35
30
25
20
0
1981
1995-97
25
15
10
5
International co-operation in science and technology
United States