IMPACT AND EFFECTIVENESS OF PUBLIC SUPPORT FOR BUSINESS INNOVATION

The process of innovation emerges out of the interactions between the cumulative increase in the knowledge base and the technological capabilities of firms in the development and diffusion of new technologies. [...] While innovation is primarily the focus of individual firms, virtually all of the authors associated with the systems of innovation approach stress the central role of the institutional infrastructures in providing much of the skills and knowledge, as well as the legal and regulatory frameworks that govern and support the adoption and diffusion of new technologies. [...] The key elements that comprise the national and regional innovation systems include: the internal organization of firms; the network of inter-firm relationships; the role of the public sector; the institutional set-up of the financial sector; and the degree of R&D intensity and the nature of R&D organization in both the public and the private sector. [...] The interactions among these elements of the innovation system are influenced by a variety of factors that include the macroeconomic and regulatory environment, the system of corporate governance, the nature of the education and training system, the state of the communications infrastructure, and prevailing conditions in individual factor and product markets. [...] It is the interaction between the different properties or capabilities of this mix of actors and organizations that determine the innovative potential of the nation or region, rather than the properties of an individual actor or institution; hence the emphasis in the IS approach is on the interaction of the various factors and how they develop over time This perspective draws the attention of poli.