Understanding the dynamism in Hong Kong's innovation environment

Purpose – The authors' intention is to demonstrate how adopting a more precise interpretation of the term “institution” as used in the innovation studies literature provides a better understanding of the dynamic nature of an innovation system. The paper therefore focuses less on organisations and other key actors in Hong Kong's innovation system and more on the laws, rules, procedures, business practices, etc. that facilitate and govern such activity. Design/methodology/approach – The paper adopts the term “innovation environment” to denote the institutional setting within which innovative activity is carried out in Hong Kong and reviews key elements of the innovation environment to note trends towards innovation‐oriented changes. Data and other descriptive information that informs the treatment of the innovation environment are based on interviews of diverse actors associated with Hong Kong's innovation system as well as research into an interdisciplinary body of literature. Findings – The authors find that although there has been little evidence of substantial progress in the development of Hong Kong's innovation system, key elements of the innovation environment exhibit trends in the direction of a more robust use of innovation‐related resources to drive economic growth in the territory. Originality/value – Apart from its focus on Hong Kong's innovation system, the paper advances innovation studies by demonstrating that its methodology of examining the innovation environment – the institutional setting in which key organisational actors carry out innovative activity – reveals the dynamism of an innovation system that might not emerge from a focus on organisations and other key actors.