B. Carlsson - Böcker

What are the characteristics of an environment that is conducive to technological innovation? In recent years, several studies have appeared which have emphasized the comprehensive institutional framework of innovation in various countries. These studies have focused on the institutions and actors, primarily in science and technology policy, at the national level. The present study takes as its starting point the idea that the institutional infrastructure, important users and suppliers of technology and their capabilities, policy agents and networks which tie them together differ across various fields of technology, and that the boundaries of the system may not coincide with national frontiers. This book represents an analysis of a "technological system", namely that which constitutes the context for factory automation in Sweden. From a comprehensive, multi-disciplinary perspective, a group of researchers from three Swedish research institutes analyze Sweden's performance in factory automation, including its economic impact, the role of international linkages and the policy implications.

This volume provides an interdisciplinary approach to understanding the nature and role of technological change in a rapidly evolving arena of economic activity that can be loosely referred to as the bio industries. These include biomedical industries that deliver goods and services used in health care, including those based on genetic engineering, as well as applications of biotechnology in other industries such as agriculture, food production and the forest industries. This volume seeks to identify and address sets of conceptual and methodological issues in analyzing innovation systems, particularly as regards the delimitation of relevant systems. The book makes an in-depth comparison of the biomedical clusters in Sweden and Ohio. It also sheds light on the emergence of new science-based technological systems.

This book is based on the papers presented at a conference on "New Issues in Industrial Economics" held at Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, June 8-10, 1987. The conference was organized by the Research Program in Industrial Economics (RPIE) in the Department of Economics at CWRU and was sponsored by The Cleveland Foundation, the Eaton Corporation, and The Standard Oil Company (later renamed BP America, Inc.). Their generous support is gratefully acknowledged. All of the papers have been revised, in several cases extensively, since their presentation at the conference. One of the primary reasons for organizing the conference was the concern that Industrial Economics has become too narrowly focused in most academic programs, largely being confined to Industrial Organization, i.e., issues of public policy towards enterprise with emphasis on antitrust and regulatory policy. This subject definition leaves out a number of interesting and important questions about how industries evolve over time, what the role of technological change (and organizational change) is in that process, and the associated structural changes within industries and firms. The object of this book is to derme these issues and suggest a framework within which they can be analyzed. I would like to thank all the conference participants for their contributions, particularly my colleagues at CWRU, Asim Erdilek and William S. Peirce, without whose encouragement and support the conference would not have taken place.

What is the relationship between technological innovation and economic growth? Contributions to this volume seek to answer this question through an analysis of four "technological systems": factory automation, electronics and computers, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, and powder technology - and their impact on Sweden's economic performance. The text begins with an overview of how the technological systems studied here relate to Sweden's overall technological profile. It then provides an in-depth explanation of each of the four chosen technological systems. The analysis continues with a survey of the literature on technological spillovers, a presentation of the results of simulations of the macroeconomic effects of spillovers, and a summary of the framework for studying technological systems derived from the four cases. The book concludes with a discussion of key lessons and issues for policy-makers, both public and private.

What is the relationship between technological innovation and economic growth? This text answers the question through an analysis of four technological systems: factory automation; electronics and computers; pharmaceuticals and biotechnology; and powder technology. The volume begins with an overview of how the technological systems studied here relate to Sweden's overall technological profile. It then provides an in-depth explanation of each of the four chosen technological systems. The analysis continues with a survey of the literature on technological spillovers, a presentation of the results of simulations of the macroeconomic effects of spillovers, and a summary of the framework for studying technological systems derived from the four cases. The book concludes with a discussion of key lessons and issues for policy-makers, both public and private.

Technological Systems in the Bio Industries: An International Study represents a comprehensive, interdisciplinary, and systematic effort to understand the nature and role of technological change in a rapidly evolving arena of economic activity that can be loosely referred to as the bio industries. These include biomedical industries that deliver goods and services used in health care, including those based on genetic engineering, as well as applications of biotechnology in other industries such as agriculture, food production, and the forest industries.This volume is the third in a continuing series of studies on technological systems; it seeks to identify and address new sets of conceptual and methodological issues in analyzing innovation systems, particularly as regards the delimitation of relevant systems. The book makes an in-depth comparison of the biomedical clusters in Sweden and Ohio. It also sheds light on the emergence of new science-based technological systems.

In 1987 the Swedish National Board for Technical Development (STU, later becoming the Swedish National Board for Industrial and Technical Development, NUTEK) initiated a study of Sweden's Technological Systems and Future Development Potential. A comprehensive, interdisciplinary study was envisioned, yielding not only useful insight but also a permanent competence base for future analyses of technological systems and technology policy in Sweden. Three leading Swedish research institutes were invited to participate: the Industrial Institute for Economic and Social Research in Stockholm, the Department ofIndustrial Management and Economics at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, and the Research Policy Institute at the University of Lund. I was invited to direct the project. The project group decided to focus initially on a particular technological system, namely factory automation, to be followed by similar studies of other systems. Numerous publications have resulted from the project thus far. The current volume represents a summary of our work on factory automation. It consists of several original essays and of some previously published papers which have been edited, in some cases substantially, in order to form a comprehensive and coherent picture of a technological system. To our knowledge, this is the first in-depth analysis of a technological system designed as a component of a systematic study of technological systems more generally. At the time of this writing, three further studies on electronics and computers, pharmaceuticals, and powder technology are under way, to be published in a later volume.