Private Innovation and Public Innovation: Who Leads and Who Follows?

This paper examines two models of interaction between private and public institutions in respectto the process of innovation. While private firms adopt proactive strategies and public institutionsfollow it is considered that, under certain conditions, public institutions are theinnovator and private firms are the followers. The first part of the research is theoretical andformulates the two models and their implications. The second part presents a case study of Italianproducts which have Animal Welfare (AW) attributes, where production follows the secondrelationship model. The case study shows that AW friendly products are the result of EUlegislation, which obliges the industry to adapt production, organisation, publicity, communicationand promotion. This is the inverse of the traditional relationship where private firms takethe initiative.