Innovation by Design - David A. Wolfe

Innovation by Design: Impact and Effectiveness of Public Support for Business Innovation examines the conceptual and program models that exist for the design and implementation of government support of business innovation at different jurisdictional levels – from the national to the regional. It places this examination within the context of two broad approaches found in the literature, the traditional neoclassical approach to innovation policy and more recent evolutionary approaches. It explores the different policy approaches adopted in both leading economies, as well as several that have adopted a rapid innovation-based (RIB) approach to innovation policy and examines the relative merits of the respective approaches used by various governments.

The monograph examines the existing evidence on the impact of a range of policy instruments, drawing on several recent reviews of both the academic and more policy-oriented literature. It also introduces the concept of the “policy mix” for innovation that was introduced ten years ago in policy reviews undertaken for the European Union and OECD. It examines what value the “policy mixes” approach adds to our understanding of the design and implementation of government programs for the support of business innovation.  Finally, it addresses the question of how the introduction of innovation programs within a multi-jurisdictional, or federal, system complicates the evaluation of their impact and creates a need for greater policy alignment.