Conceptual Developments in the Evolution of Innovation Systems Approach

The innovation systems approach has swiftly spread out worldwide in the last two decades and stood as an important approach for studying innovation processes and as a framework for policy-making in the fields of science, technology, and innovation. However, little work has been done about the theoretical soundness of this approach. In this paper, we try to focus on some important policy questions from an epistemological point of view. We study the nature and evolution of innovation systems approach as a case of conceptual revolution against the more established traditions in economics of innovation. Adopting insights from the field of conceptual development, we provide detailed analysis on the kinds and degrees of conceptual changes that occurred during the evolution of innovation systems approach. We demonstrate that the rise of systemic view on innovation include radical changes in the neoclassical view on innovation as well as deeper developments in epistemological and methodological foundations of the old paradigm.