The relationship between innovation policies and locational competitiveness has emerged as an important area in the analysis of economic development, reflecting both the centralisation and decentralisation of globalising economic activities. The underlying spatial and institutional components are subject to a pattern of cumulative causation in which strategic interventions of policy actors exercise a decisive role in shaping competitive advantages, while promoting interactions with local and foreign partners both from the private and public sectors. The Singaporean development experience illustrates these strategic interdependencies of innovation policies and locational competitiveness. Based on her role as a manufacturing and service hub, Singapore is viewed as an infrastructural nodal point which is interconnected to global production networks. Paralleling efforts in the domain of technological innovation, Singapore’s policies for locational competitiveness aim at an adaptive harmonisation of the needs of international investors with local developmental objectives. This orientation characterises also current efforts in promoting Singapore as a knowledge agglomeration with a distinct science base, expanding R&D operations and an innovation-driven pattern of economic development. In conclusion, the locational rationale of Singapore’s innovation policies provides lessons for dealing with the spatial and institutional implications of technological globalisation.

The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations. The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. All data are provided without warranty of any kind and the United Nations does not make any representation or warranty as to their accuracy, timeliness, completeness or fitness for any particular purposes. UNCTAD/LDC/MISC.82 i

Any judgement on the future situation beyond 2005 of renewable energy industry branches will be based on expectations and interpretations of different geopolitical pictures. Traditionally, long-term expectations for RE (Renewable Energy), and thus for RET (Renewable Energy

Innovations and industrial renewal in Finland-

Abstract: Innovation, a broad social and economic activity within the emerging learning societies, transcends any specific technology, even if revolutionary, and is tied to attitudes and behaviours oriented towards the exploitation of change by adding value. We analyse the on-going Portuguese path towards an innovative society. We start by characterizing innovation in Portugal within the European context. To better understand this case study, we introduce the analysis of innovation over time and across space, inspired by the techno-economic paradigms approach. This leads us to conceptualise “learning ” and the process of knowledge accumulation, as a framework to understand the new demands for being innovative. We conclude by suggesting elements for innovation policies for Portugal, arguing for the need to promote systems of innovation and competence building based on learning and knowledge networks. Key words: systems of innovation, learning society, competence building, technoeconomic paradigms

Ever since the start of the Industrial Revolution in Britain in the 1760s, innovation and investment have been crucial elements in economic explanations of the dynamics of capitalism. Classical economics recognises that innovation embodied in the form of new machines through fixed capital investment is the essential process for realising economic development. This study sets up a theoretical linkage between innovation and investment in historical time, without reference to any static equilibrium model. Instead, a Kaleckian-based investment cycle model is set up with the double-sided profit and investment relationship, upon which is added the innovation industry life-cycle processes that provide the stimulus for investment. By threading together evolutionary life cycle of industry development through innovative processes with Kaleckian extended reproduction through volatility of the investment process, the instability of cycles and their trend growth can be identified. Tension between virtuous and vicious cycle effects operates to create uncertainty and strategic planning that lead to patterns of industry and economy-wide development of cumulative expansion (and booms) along with periods of cumulative destruction and insecurity. The latter produce problematic efforts to

The study described in this chapter is a part of the research project directed by Glenn Carroll and David McKendrick, under the auspices of the Information Storage Industry Center, U.C. San Diego, Firms entering an industry de novo (start-up) and firms entering de alio (diversification away from another industry) differ in the initial entry conditions. In this paper, I propose that the differences in resource endowment, previous experience, and structural flexibility between de novo and de alio firms at the time of entry have long-lasting imprinting effects on their innovation behavior. In particular, I predict that de novo firms exert greater efforts and achieve greater technological outcomes in product innovation than de alio firms. Furthermore, I argue that firm entry mode explains additional variance in firm innovative behavior, which is not explained by entrant-incumbent status alone. I find strong empirical support for these predictions when analyzing product innovation of all firms that ever participated in the worldwide optical disk drive industry, 1983-1999. I discuss the implications of my findings for the entrant-incumbent research in the management of innovation literature.

The purpose of this paper is the identification of determinants, and the assessment of their influence, of the decision to innovate in Turkish manufacturing firms, with an emphasis on the impact of trade liberalization. A binomial logit model is used to assess the influence of explanatory variables on the probability that firms will innovate. Size, market structure, and profitability exert a positive impact on that probability. Competition on international markets, international technology transfers, skill level of the workforce, a lower degree of vertical integration, and price level all have a positive influence. Competition on domestic markets, acquisition of technology licenses by local firms, and foreign direct investment do not exert a statistically significant effect on the innovation decisions of firms.

In this paper we developed a concept suggesting that initial entry conditions experienced by start-ups and diversified firms affect the behavior and fates of their products. Specifically, we predicted that in capital intensive industries, initial entry conditions confer advantages to diversifiers from related industries. As a result, these firms are likely to ship more models of products than start-ups. Products made by diversifiers are likely to have a longer market life span and exert a stronger competitive pressure than those made by start-ups. We tested these predictions on all products ever shipped in the worldwide optical disk drive industry, 1983-1999. The statistical analysis largely supported our theoretical predictions.

* This paper is part of the PROACT-research program. We greatfully acknowledge funding by the Ministry of Trade and Industry. We also thank Raimo Lovio and Jyrki Ali-Yrkkö for valuable comments.