National innovation systems: An institutional perspective

Abstract

Combing institutional theory and research on innovation, we focus on alternatives and extensions of Pudelko and Bìechl (2010)’s model of the socio-cultural context and suggest dimensions derived from institutional theory and the innovation literature as alternative approaches for analyzing innovation systems. Specifically, we propose dimensions, which have been suggested in the literature and which we deemed important for analyzing national innovation systems. Moreover, we believe that a more theoretically founded analysis of the environment may lead to further implications to enhance Korea’s innovativeness. Finally, in order to complement Pudelko and Bìechl (2010)’s qualitative approach, we also present measures, which have been frequently used to quantify and operationalize these rather abstract dimensions. Altogether, we argue that an analysis based on established frameworks such as institutional theory may further expand the implications of Pudelko and Bìechl (2010)’s model and provide a valuable starting point for improving the development of national innovation systems.