Maintaining the innovation capabilities of firms, employees and institutions is a key component for the generation of sustainable growth, employment, and high income in industrial societies. Gaining insights into the German innovation system and the institutional framework is as important to policy making as is data on the endowment of the German economy with factors fostering innovation and their recent development. Germany's Federal Ministry of Education and Research has repeatedly commissioned reports on the competitive strength of the German innovation system since the mid-eighties. The considerable attention that the public and the political, administrative and economic actors have paid to these reports in the past few years proves the strong interest in the assessment of and indicators for the dynamics behind innovation activities. The present study closely follows the pattern of those carried out before. It has been extended, however, to include an extensive discussion on indicators for technological performance and an outline of the key features of the German innovation system.
Part I: Introduction and Overview.- Part II: Summary.- Part III: Challenges to and Precepts for Effective Education, Research and Innovation Policies.- Part IV: Measurement and Interpretation of Germany's Technology Performance 1998.- Basic Concepts: Indicators and the innovation system; National innovation systems and their institutional framework - an introduction.- Industrial Specialization in Germany: Germany's industrial structure in international comparison; Characteristics of Germany's industrial specialization in detail; Generic technologies.- Innovation in the Service Sector and Competitive Strength: Interaction between industry and the service sector; Innovative services and competitive strength; Summary.- Indicators for Germany's Technological Performance: The short-term perspective - industrial innovation and international technology markets in the midst of cyclical expansion; The medium-term perspective - investment in the near future; The long-term perspective - education, science and research; Summary.- Observations Regarding Special Topics: Technological competition and Central and Eastern Europe's countries in transition; The catching-up process in Germany's new Länder; Selected fields of technology - competitive positions at risk?.- Appendix.- Abbrevations.- List of Charts.- List of Tables.- Bibliography.
The research results presented in this book are part of the continuous reporting on the technological performance of the German economy. The indicators of technological performance show a high efficiency of the German innovation system in the short term. New knowledge is rapidly transferred into patents, innovative activities are growing independently of the business cycle, and German enterprises are well established on international markets. With respect to the medium and longer term, however, the expansion of the R&D-intensive sectors, R&D activities in general and start-ups do not seem to be strong enough, and the service sector lacks prominent features in international comparison. While there are potentials, they are not sufficiently being mobilised. The strength of the German innovation system lies in advanced technologies. But Germany is also the technological leader in some areas. Being a "fast follower" by quickly integrating new technologies in innovative products and processes should prove a successful strategy. Innovation policy should promote solutions in all parts of the economy and society.
I Introduction and Overview.- II Summary.- III Challenges to and Precepts for Effective Education, Research and Innovation Policies.- IV Measurement and Interpretation of Germany's Technological Performance 1998.- Basic Concepts.- 2 Industrial Specialization in Germany.- 3 Innovation in the Service Sector and Competitive Strength.- 4 Indicators for Germany's Technological Performance.- 5 Observations Regarding Special Topics.- Abbreviations.- List of Charts.- List of Tables.
Georg Licht, Head of the Department of Industrial Economics and International Management at the Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung (ZEW - Centre for European Economic Research), in Mannheim, Germany.
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