The concept of National Systems of Innovation was introduced as a method to describe the various elements which contribute to innovation performance and their interaction. Most analyses refer to the description of the structures of specific countries, whereas the comparison of different countries generally fails due to the inconsistency of information sources or the lack of specific data. In this book, the innovation structures of a broad set of countries are compared on the basis of various indicators. In particular, the topics of public and private R&D and their internationalisation, of scientific and technological performance, of innovation activities in manufacturing and services, of foreign trade, of technology-based start-ups, and ICT infrastructure are examined in detail. A further relevant area of investigation is higher education and highly skilled employment, and finally trends in innovation policy are presented in an international comparison. The book documents major elements of the joint work of eight leading German institutes, elaborated in the context of a regular annual report on Germany's technological performance. It provides much more than the pure compilation of quantitative indicators for international benchmarking, but gives support to an appropriate interpretation of the referring results and suggests relevant conclusions for innovation policy. A special focus is on Germany; so the book also aims at non-German readers interested in specific features of the German innovation system. © 2006 Springer. All Rights Reserved.
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