Innovation, Path Dependency, and Policy

The concept of National Innovation Systems is well established in academic research and enthusiastically adopted by policymakers. Yet there are relatively few in-depth studies of how individual national innovation systems have evolved to their present stance. This book provides just that. The contributions of the book are threefold. First, it develops an evolutionary and historically oriented approach to the study of the development of these policies that may have wide applicability. Second, it focuses on a particular type of innovation, innovation in resource-based activities, that differs in many respects from the more commonly studied case of innovation in high-tech industries. Third, the book advances our understanding of the roles played by institutions and politics in innovation. The book includes contributions from historians, economists, and sociologists, and offers an unparalleled account of the development of one of the world's most successful economies.1. Introduction: Innovation in Norway ; SECTION I: THE HISTORICAL EVOLUTION AND CURRENT STRUCTURE OF THE NORWEGIAN NATIONAL INNOVATION SYSTEM ; 2. The Layers of National Innovation Systems: The Historical Evolution of a National Innovation System in Norway ; 3. Public sector research and industrial innovation in Norway: a historical perspective ; 4. Policies for Path Creation: The rise and fall of Norway's research-driven strategy for industralisation ; 5. Historical Fingerprints? A Taxonomy of Norwegian innovation ; SECTION II: SECTORAL INNOVATION SYSTEMS IN NORWAY: OLD AND NEW PATHS ; 6. Innovation and Production in the Norwegian Aluminium Industry ; 7. The Development of the Norwegian Petroleum Innovation System: A Historical Overview ; 8. The Innovation System of Norwegian Aquacultured Salmonids ; 9. The Biotechnology industry in Norway: A marginal sector or future core activity ; 10. Slow Growth and Revolutionary Change: The Norwegian IT Industry Enters the Global Age, 1970-2005 ; SECTION 3: INNOVATION POLICY AND INSTITUTIONS IN CONTEMPORARY NORWAY ; 11. University-Industry Relations in Norway ; 12. The Technical-Industrial Research Institutes in the Norwegian Innovation System ; 13. Industrial R&D Policy in Norway: who gets the funding and what are the effects?