Microsoft Word bal paper with addendum doc

Box A: Summarising the national innovation system – the core with its activities and 

characteristics as well as the wider setting, outcomes and public policy* 

Central activities in the core 

11. Searching and researching – STI (1) 

12. Human Interaction and learning – DUI (4 and 6) 

13. Interaction between firms and the knowledge infrastructure – STI and/or DUI. 

Central characteristics of the core 

14. Organisational forms (5) 

15. Institutional framework (7) 

16. Production structure 

Wider setting 

17. Market for labour 

18. Market for finance (9) 

19. Welfare regime 

Outcomes 

20. New products (2)  

21. Competence building (3) 

22. Impact on growth and development 

Dimensions of government intervention 

23. Promoting STI- or DUI-mode of innovation  

24. Promoting Pioneers or Followers  

25. Promoting High technology or Low technology sectors 

* Numbers in parenthesis refer to Edquists scheme in the main paper. 

 I would see learning through research and learning through human and organisational interaction as 

the central activities at the core of the innovation system. Important for how these activities take 

place and with what outcomes are organisational forms, institutional framework and the production 

structure.  The processes and the organisational forms will reflect the wider setting in terms of the 

national welfare regime and the markets for labour and finance. Outcomes of the system may be 

innovation and competence building and in the last instance economic growth and development.  

Governments may try to intervene in order to promote the DUI- or the STI-mode of innovation, 

pioneers or followers and firms from high technology sectors or firms from low technology sectors.  

One reason why it is important to insist on a broad definition of the innovation system is that the 

‘innovation’ as a concept leads the attention of theoreticians as well as practicians toward 

respectively STI, Pioneers and High technology sectors while the performance of most national 

economies – as it reflects innovation activities – is highly dependent on DUI, Followers and Low 

Technology sectors. 

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 Several of the latest World Developmet Reports from the World bank have focused on knowledge. For example  the 

1998/99 report states that: “This World Development Report proposes that we look at problem of developmet in a new 

way – from the perspective of knowledge”