Innovation policy, national innovation systems and economic performance: In search of a useful theoretical framework

The term 'innovation policy' started to penetrate the policy discourse a few decades ago and it may be time to take stock of what is learnt and consider what the challenges for the theory and practice in this area are. This paper contributes to this process by focusing on the extent to which we have a theoretical framework that is sufficiently helpful. The first section introduces the issue. Section 2 discusses theoretical frameworks of relevance for innovation policies and considers the relationship between their underlying assumptions and available evidence from innovation-surveys. Based on recent advances in innovation-systems theory, section 4 presents a synthetic framework for the analysis of innovation policy. Finally, lessons and challenges for future work in this area are considered. Empirical evidence from the Nordic area is introduced at various points to illustrate the relevance of the arguments brought up during the discussion.