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German technology policy, innovation, and national institutional frameworks

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  • Soskice, David

Abstract

The pattern of innovation in Germany is substantially different from that in the US and the UK. It is argued that German patterns of innovation - incremental innovation in high quality products especially in engineering and chemicals - require long-term capital, highly cooperative unions and powerful employer associations, effective vocational training systems and close long-term cooperation between companies and with research institutes and university departments. (The more radical high-technology innovation typical of the US and the UK benefits by contrast from less regulated market conditions.) These conditions are met by the incentives and constraints of the institutional framework in which companies located in Germany are embedded. It is suggested that German technology policy is appropriate to and important for this pattern of high-quality incremental innovation. Moreover, the institutional framework - especially the role of powerful business associations - can solve the collective action problems to which German-type technology policy would normally be exposed.

Suggested Citation

  • Soskice, David, 1996. "German technology policy, innovation, and national institutional frameworks," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Economic Change and Employment FS I 96-319, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:wzbece:fsi96319
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    Cited by:

    1. Ergen, Timur, 2015. "Große Hoffnungen und brüchige Koalitionen: Industrie, Politik und die schwierige Durchsetzung der Photovoltaik," Schriften aus dem Max-Planck-Institut für Gesellschaftsforschung Köln, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies, volume 83, number 83.
    2. Gatti, Donatella, 1998. "Unemployment and innovation patterns: the role of business coordination and market competition," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Economic Change and Employment FS I 98-306, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    3. Rebecca Harding, 2000. "Resilience In German Technology Policy: Innovation Through Institutional Symbiotic Tension," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 7(2), pages 223-243.
    4. Spielkamp, Alfred, 1997. "Grenzen und Reichweiten Nationaler Innovationssysteme und forschungspolitische Implikationen," ZEW Discussion Papers 97-15, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    5. Jackson, Gregory & Deeg, Richard, 2006. "How Many Varieties of Capitalism? Comparing the Comparative Institutional Analyses of Capitalist Diversity," MPIfG Discussion Paper 06/2, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
    6. Adleberger, Karen, 1999. "A Developmental German State? Explaining Growth in German Biotechnology and Venture Capital," UCAIS Berkeley Roundtable on the International Economy, Working Paper Series qt8z55s60f, UCAIS Berkeley Roundtable on the International Economy, UC Berkeley.
    7. Radislav Semenov, 2006. "Financial systems, financing constraints and investment: empirical analysis of OECD countries," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(17), pages 1963-1974.
    8. Amable, Bruno & Petit, Pascal, 1999. "Identifying the structure of institutions to promote innovation and growth," CEPREMAP Working Papers (Couverture Orange) 9919, CEPREMAP.
    9. Koen, Carla I., 2004. "The dialectics of globalization: what are the effects for management and organization in Germany and Japan," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 173-197, June.
    10. Amable, Bruno, 1999. "Institutional complementarity and diversity of social systems of innovation and production," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Economic Change and Employment FS I 99-309, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    11. Barry Eichengreen, 2000. "From Benign Neglect to Malignant Preoccupation: U.S. Balance-of-Payments Policy in the 1960s," NBER Working Papers 7630, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Jong, Eelke de & Semenov, Radislav, 2002. "Cross-country differences in stock market development : a cultural view," Research Report 02E40, University of Groningen, Research Institute SOM (Systems, Organisations and Management).

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