National Systems of Innovations and the Role of Demand. A Cross Country Comparison
Abraham Garcia
#2007-027
This article focuses on the role of demand in the National System of
Innovations: why it is so important, and how does it affect the dynamics
of the system and the flow of inventions and innovations.
To study the evolutions and the dynamics of the different systems a
series of composite indicators will be build up. In the paper it will be
argued that the system of innovation can be defined by four different
dimensions: Social and Human Capital, Knowledge Creation, Innovation
capacity of the Supply and Innovation from the Demand. The evolution of
these dimensions is studied over a period of fifteen years and compared
across fourteen European countries. This structure allows to study
different dynamics, and evolution over time of different systems. The
study highlights the weak links of the system, comparing each national
system with the performance of the rest of the states members. The
identification of the weakness and the evolution of the weakness over
the time gives interesting policy conclusions. The aim of the paper is
also to contribute to the theory of composite indicators by offering a
new approach to select, after carrying out a sensitivity analysis, the
best indicator.
Keywords: National System of Innovations, Composite Indicators,
Benchmarking, Demand.
JEL: O30, O38, O52, P46
UNU-MERIT Working Papers
ISSN 1871-9872