The evolution of innovation systems

There is an increasing appreciation for the role that facilitating institutions play in successful innovation. Most commonly these institutions are discussed and analysed as innovation systems. National Innovation Systems were the first type identified, and a range of other forms of innovation system have been identified including local clusters, Regional Innovation Systems and Sectoral Innovation Systems. Innovating agents tend to be similar across and within these different systems, and include individuals, firms, collaborative networks, research institutes, financial institutions and universities. However, each system tends to co-ordinate the activities of these actors in different ways, and this is what differentiates the systems. This paper uses the micro meso macro analytical framework from evolutionary economics to provide a new view of innovation system evolution. The key implications of this perspective are: innovation systems are best analysed as populations; the different types of innovation system interact at the level of innovating agents, and which one dominates in a particular situation will vary; innovation systems and innovating agent co-evolve – rather than thinking that agents must conform to the constraints of the systems they work within, it is important to realise that they can also shape these systems through innovative action. Conceptualising innovation systems in this way leads to testable propositions that will provide a different way of analysing their evolution.