The National Innovation System of Belgium (Contributions to Economics)

The subject of the book is the description and analysis of the national innovation system in Belgium. It is the first comprehensive study of its kind for Belgium. The approach - a "systemic" one, as opposed to the traditional "linear causal" approach - has increasingly become the framework for studies of the complex relationships between R & D, innovation, the economic performance of firms and of the economy as a whole, technological policy, and finally the institutional framework of the national economy, including its transnational aspects. The book pays attention to the institutional framework of Belgium, the inputs (human capital, R & D efforts, government support) into, and the outputs of the innovation system This book deals with aspects of the national innovation system of Belgium. It is the result of a study jointly undertaken by teams of the University of Antwerp (RUCA) and the Free University of Brussels (ULB) in the context of the OECD­ DSTI Working Group on Innovation and Technology Policy, which brought to­ gether specialists from most of the OECD countries in an effort to streamline and co-ordinate research on national innovation systems. The 'systemic' approach - as opposed to the traditional 'linear causal' ap­ proach - has, in recent years, increasingly become the framework for the study of the complex relationships between R&D, innovation, the economic performance of firms and of the economy in which they operate, technological policy, and, fi­ nally, the institutional framework of the national economy, including its transna­ tional aspects. Obviously, the systemic approach did not fall out of the blue but has its roots in different schools of economic thought. The theoretical foundations of the national innovation system approach are therefore first discussed in Chapter 1. Chapters 2 and 3 introduce the reader to some peculiarities of the Belgian economy. Chapter 2 deals with the sources of Belgian prosperity, looked at from a long-term perspective and with particular attention being given to the small-open-economy characteristics of Belgium. Front Matter....Pages I-XI Front Matter....Pages 1-1 The Theoretical Foundations of the National Innovation Systems Approach....Pages 3-19 The Sources of Belgian Prosperity....Pages 21-41 The Institutional Profile....Pages 43-69 Front Matter....Pages 71-71 R&D Expenditures and the National Innovation System....Pages 73-100 R&D Activities at the Firm Level....Pages 101-116 The National Innovation System and its International Linkages....Pages 117-136 The Network of Joint Research Projects and Alliances....Pages 137-172 Front Matter....Pages 173-173 Technological Performance....Pages 175-198 Technological Performance and Performance in International Trade....Pages 199-210 Conclusions....Pages 211-221 Back Matter....Pages 223-245