Small Country Innovation Systems

Globalization, Change and Policy in Asia and Europe

Edited by Charles Edquist, Professor, CIRCLE, Lund University, Sweden and the late Leif Hommen, formerly in CIRCLE, Lund University, Lund, Sweden

This major book presents case studies of ten small country national systems of innovation (NSIs) in Europe and Asia, namely, Denmark, Finland, Hong Kong, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, South Korea, Sweden and Taiwan. These cases have been carefully selected as examples of success within the context of globalization and as ‘new economies’ where competition is increasingly based on innovation.

‘What are the challenges that small countries face concerning innovation and what are the effects of globalization on their innovation systems? In this very interesting, rich and timely book, Edquist and Hommen compare ten different small national innovation systems from the Asia Pacific and Northern Europe that are rather advanced in their development. The answers that the authors give are convincing and relate not only to the unique characteristics of each national system that shapes innovative activity, but also to some commonalities that exist across these countries.’
– Franco Malerba, Bocconi University, Italy