The ‘policy mix’ for innovation: rethinking innovation policy in a multi-level, multi-actor context

Flanagan, Kieron and Uyarra, Elvira and Laranja, Manuel (2010): The ‘policy mix’ for innovation: rethinking innovation policy in a multi-level, multi-actor context.

Abstract

Recent years have seen the emergence, take-up and use of the term 'policy mix' by innovation policy makers and by policy analysts & scholars alike. Imported from economic policy debates, the term implies a focus on the interactions and interdependencies between different policies as they affect the extent to which intended policy outcomes are achieved. However the meaning of the term remains ambiguous. Nonetheless, we argue that the emergence of the „policy mix‟ concept into common use in the field of innovation policy studies provides us with a window of opportunity to reconsider some basic and often hidden assumptions in order to better deal with a messy and complex, multi-level, multi-actor reality. We draw on the mainstream policy studies literature and on evolutionary thinking in order to re-conceptualise the basic building blocks of innovation policy studies in order to arrive at a useful definition of ‟policy mix‟ interactions. We suggest that this reconceptualisation has profound implications for the scope and focus of innovation policy studies and for what such studies can realistically hope to achieve in terms of policy prescriptions.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Policy mix; policy interactions; policy instruments; actors; agency; innovation policy
• Subjects: O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O3 - Innovation ; Research and Development ; Technological Change ; Intellectual Property Rights > O38 - Government Policy

References

Aghion, P. David, P.A. Foray, D. (2009). 'Science, technology and innovation for economic growth: Linking policy research and practice in „STIG Systems'' Research Policy 38(4): 681-693.

Bache, I. and Flinders, M. (2004) Multi-level Governance (Oxford: Oxford University Press).

Bardach E, (2006), „Policy Dynamics‟ in Moran M, Rein M and

Goodin RE (eds) The Oxford Handbook of Public Policy Oxford University Press.

Barrett S, (2004), „Implementation studies: time for a revival? Personal reflections on 20 years of implementation studies‟ Public Administration 82 No. 2, pp 249-262.

Baumgartner, F. R. and B. D. Jones (2002). Policy dynamics, University of Chicago Press.

Bijker, W., Hughes, T. and Pinch, T. (eds), (1989), The Social Construction of Technological Systems (MIT Press, Cambridge MA).

Bobrow, D.B. (2006) Social and Cultural Factors: Constraining and Enabling in Moran M, Rein M and Goodin RE (eds) The Oxford Handbook of Public Policy Oxford University Press.

Borrás, S. (2009) "The Widening and Deepening of Innovation Policy: What Conditions Provide for Effective Governance" CIRCLE working paper 2009/2. Lund University.

Branscomb, L.M. and Florida, R. (1998) “Challenges to Technology Policy” in Branscomb, L.M. and Keller, J.H. (eds) Investing in Innovation: creating a research and innovation policy that works, MIT Press: Cambridge MA and London.

Bressers, H.A. and O‟Toole, L.J. (2005) Instrument selection and implementation in a networked context, in

Eliadis P, Hill M and Howlett M (eds), Designing Government: from instruments to Governance. McGill-Queens University Press, Montreal.

Caracostas, P. (2007) “The policy-shaper‟s anxiety at the innovation kick”, in Malerba, F. and Brusoni, S. (eds) Perspectives on Innovation (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).

Chaminade, C.; Edquist, C. (2006) From theory to practice. The use of the systems of innovation approach to innovation policy, in Innovation, Science and Institutional Change. A Research Handbook, Oxford University Press.

Claeys, P., (2006). “Policy mix and debt sustainability: evidence from fiscal policy rules”, Empirica, vol 33, 2-3, pp89-112.

David, P. (1987), Some new standards for the economics of standardization in the information age. In: Dasgupta P, Stoneman P (eds) Economic policy and technological performance. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

Dunleavy P and Hood C (1994) “From old public administration to new public management” Public Money & Management; Vol. 14 Issue 3, p9-16.

Elzinga A and Jamison A, (1995) “Changing policy agendas in science and technology”, in Jasanoff S (ed), Handbook of science and technology studies (Thousand Oaks, Calif and London: Sage).

ETAN Expert Working Group, (1998) Climate Change and the Challenge for Research and Technological Development (RTD) Policy – ETAN Working Paper (Directorate General XII Directorate D - Environment and Climate RTD Programme, Directorate AS - RTD Actions: Strategy and Coordination; Directorate General Joint Research Center- Institute for Prospective Technological Studies).

Flanagan, K. and Uyarra, E. (2008) Policy Mix for R&D in the Northwest of England (Policy Mix Project, available at: http://www.policymix.eu/policymixtool/doc.cfm?pageid=204&docid=200)

Galli R and Teubal M (1997) “Paradigmatic Shifts in National Innovation Systems” in Edquist C (ed) Systems of innovation: technologies, institutions, and organizations (Pinter, London).

Georghiou, L, (2006), Effective Innovation Policies for Europe – the Missing Demand Side, paper for the Economic Council, during Finland Presidency

Gunningham, N. and D. Sinclair (1999). 'Regulatory pluralism: designing policy mixes for environmental protection' Law & Policy 21: 49.

Hay, C., (1999). 'Crisis and the structural transformation of the state: interrogating the process of change' British Journal of Politics and International Relations 1(3): 317-344.

Hay, C., (2002) Political analysis: a critical introduction (Basingstoke, Palgrave).

Hekkert, M. P., Suurs, R.A., Negro, S.O., Kuhlmann, S. and Smits, R.E. (2007). 'Functions of innovation systems: a new approach for analysing technological change' Technological Forecasting & Social Change 74(4): 413-432.

Howells, J. (2006). 'Intermediation and the role of intermediaries in innovation' Research Policy 35(5): 715-728.

Howlett, M (2005) "What is a policy instrument? Policy tools, policy mixes, and policy-implementation styles" in

Eliadis P, Hill M and Howlett M (eds), Designing Government: from instruments to Governance. McGill-Queens University Press, Montreal.

Howlett, M and Ramesh, M, (2003), Studying public policy: policy cycles and policy subsystems (Second Edition), Oxford University Press.

John, P. (2003). 'Is There Life After Policy Streams, Advocacy Coalitions, and Punctuations: Using Evolutionary Theory to Explain Policy Change?' Policy Studies Journal 31(4): 481-498.

Kay, A. (2006) The Dynamics of Public Policy: Theory and Evidence, Edward Elgar Publishing

Kerr, P. (2002). 'Saved from extinction: evolutionary theorising, politics and the state' The British Journal of Politics and International Relations 4(2): 330-358.

Kingdon, J (1984) Agendas, alternatives and public policies. Longham, New York

Klappholz, K. (1964). 'Value Judgements and Economics' The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science(58): 97-114. Kuhlmann, S. and Shapira, P. (2006) How is Innovation Influenced by Science and Technology Policy Governance? Transatlantic Comparisons. In: Hage, J. / Meeus, M. (eds.): Innovation, Science, and Institutional Change; A Research Handbook, Oxford, Oxford University Press.

Kuhn, T. (1962) The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (University of Chicago Press).

Kuhnert, S. (2001). 'An Evolutionary Theory of Collective Action: Schumpeterian Entrepreneurship for the Common Good' Constitutional Political Economy 12(1): 13-29. 32

Landry, R. and Varone, F. (2005) Choice of policy instruments: Confronting the deductive and the interactive approaches. In Eliadis, F. P., et al. (2005). Designing government: from instruments to governance, McGill Queens Univ Press.

Laranja, M., Uyarra, E. and Flanagan, K. (2008) „Policies for science, technology and innovation: Translating rationales into regional policies in a multi-level setting‟ Research Policy 37 (5) 823–835.

Lindblom CE (1958) “Tinbergen on Policy-Making”, Journal of Political Economy Vol 66, No. 6, pp531-538.

Lindblom CE (1959) The Science of "Muddling Through" Public Administration Review, Vol. 19, No. 2., pp. 79-88. Louis Lengrand & Associés, PREST and ANRT (2002) Innovation tomorrow - Innovation policy and the regulatory framework: Making innovation an integral part of the broader structural agenda, Innovation Papers No.28, Directorate-General Enterprise, Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, EUR 17052.

Majone, G. (1989). Evidence, argument, and persuasion in the policy process, Yale University Press.

March, J.G. and Olsen, J.P. (2006) The Logic of Appropiateness in Moran M, Rein M and Goodin RE (eds) The Oxford Handbook of Public Policy Oxford University Press.

Markusen, A. (2003) “Fuzzy concepts, scanty evidence, policy distance: the case for rigour and policy relevance in critical regional studies” Regional Studies, vol. 33.9 pp.869-884

Metcalfe, J. S. (1994). 'Evolutionary economics and technology policy' The Economic Journal: 931-944.

Moreau, F. (2004). 'The role of the state in evolutionary microeconomics' Cambridge Journal of Economics 28(6): 847–74.

Morlacchi, P. and B. R. Martin (2009). 'Emerging challenges for science, technology and innovation policy research: A reflexive overview' Research Policy 38(4): 571-582.

Mundell, R. (1962) „The Appropriate Use of Monetary and Fiscal Policy for Internal and External Stability‟ IMF Staff Papers, March 1962, pp 70-77.

Nauwelaers, C. and Wintjes, R. (2008) Conclusions and perspectives: adapting old policy institutions to new challenges, in Nauwelaers, C. and Wintjes, R. (Eds.) Innovation Policy in Europe: Measurement and Strategy. Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd.

Nelson, R. R. (1977). The moon and the ghetto, WW Norton & Company.

Pelikán, P. and Wegner, G. (2003). The Evolutionary Analysis of Economic Policy. Edward Elgar.

Peters, B.G. (2005) The future of instruments research. in Eliadis, F. P., et al. (2005). Designing government: from instruments to governance, McGill Queens Univ Press.

Pollitt C, (2008), Time, Policy, Management: governing with the past, Oxford University Press.

Rhodes, R.A.W.(2006) Policy Network Analysis in Moran M, Rein M and Goodin RE (eds) The Oxford Handbook of Public Policy Oxford University Press.

Ringeling, A.B. (2005) “Instruments in four: the elements of policy design” in P Eliadis, MM Hills, M Howlett (eds) Designing Government: From Instruments to Governance, 33(McGill-Queens University Press).

Ruivo, B. (1994), “‟Phases‟ or „paradigms‟ of science policy?” Science and Public Policy vol 21 No.3, pp157-164.

Scharpf, F. (1997), Games real actors play: Actor-centered institutionalism in policy research (Westview Press).

Schmitter, P. (1985) „Neo-corporatism and the state‟, in W. Grant (ed.), The Political Economy of Corporatism (London: Macmillan).

Schwarze, R. (1995), “Haftungsrecht und Auflagen als Policy-Mix”, Wirtschaftswissenschaft vol 46 No. 3, pp.306-326.

Slembeck, T. (1997). 'The Formation of Economic Policy: A Cognitive-Evolutionary Approach to Policy-Making' Constitutional Political Economy 8(3): 225-254.

Smith, K., (1994) New directions in research and technology policy: indentifying the key issues, STEP Report R-01, STEP Group, Oslo, ISSN 0804-8185.

Smits, R. and Kuhlman, S (2004). The rise of systemic instruments in innovation policy' International Journal of Foresight and Innovation Policy 1(2-3): 4-32.

Soete, L. and Corpakis, D., (2003). R&D for Competitiveness and Employment – The Role of Benchmarking. IPTS report February 2003, 71, available at http://www.jrc.es/home/report/english/articles/vol71/welcome.htm

Sorrel, S. and Sijm, J. (2003).Carbon trading in the policy mix, Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Vol. 19, No. 3, pp. 420-437

Steinmo, S. (2003). 'The evolution of policy ideas: tax policy in the 20th century' The British Journal of Politics and International Relations 5(2): 206-236.

STRATA/ETAN Expert Working Group, (2002), Benchmarking National R&D Policies: the impact of RTD on competitiveness and employment, Report of an Independent STRATA/ETAN Expert Working Group to the European Commission.

Stroick, S, and Jenson,J. (1999). "What is the Best Policy Mix for Canada's Young Children?" Study no. F-09. Ottawa: Canadian Policy Research Network.

Tinbergen J (1952) On the theory of Economic Policy (North Holland, Amsterdam).

Tinbergen J (1956) Economic Policy: Principles and design (North Holland, Amsterdam).

UNU/MERIT, Technopolis Group, Manchester Institute of Innovation Research, Wise Guys Limited, Joanneum Research and ZEW, (2009), Policy Mixes for R&D in Europe, Final Report of the project “Monitoring and analysis of policies and public financing instruments conducive to higher levels of R&D investments” Contract No. DG-RTD-2005-M-01-02.

Uyarra, E., (2010), “What is evolutionary about regional systems of innovation?”, Journal of Evolutionary Economics 20(1): 115-137.

Van den Bergh, J. and Kallis, G. (2009) Evolutionary Policy. Papers on Economics and Evolution. (Max Planck Institute of Economics, Jena.)

van Lente, H., Hekkert, M. Smits, R. and Waveren, B. (2003). 'Roles of systemic intermediaries in transition processes' International journal of Innovation management 7: 247-280.

Wegner, G. (2003). Evolutionary markets and the design of institutional policy, in 34

Pelikán, P. and Wegner, G. (2003). The Evolutionary Analysis of Economic Policy. Edward Elgar.

Wieczorek AJ, Hekkert MP and Smits R (2009) Contemporary innovation policy and instruments: challenges and implications, Innovation Studies Utrecht (ISU) Working Paper Series No. 09.12 (Universiteit Utrecht).

Wildavsky, A. (1979) Speaking truth to power: the art and craft of policy analysis (Boston: Little Brown).

Witt, U. (2003). 'Economic policy making in evolutionary perspective' Journal of Evolutionary Economics 13(2): 77-94.