National Innovation Systems: A Retrospective on a Study
Author(s)
Nelson, Richard
Abstract
In this essay I will describe a large comparative study of national innovation systems (Nelson 1993) that has recently been completed, tell something of what motivated the study and how it was organized and undertaken, and highlight some of the more interesting findings. The overall project covered three sets of countries where we thought in-group comparisons would be most interesting. The first group consisted of six large high-income countries – the United States, Japan, Germany, France, Italy, and the United Kingdom. The second group consisted of four small high-income countries, with a strong agricultural or resource base -Denmark, Sweden, Canada, and Australia. Finally, included in the set were five lower-income countries -Korea, Taiwan, Argentina, Brazil, and Israel.
