Comparison of innovation policies in selected European, Asian and ...

study countries do not. Two other New Zealand priorities ‘coherence, fragmentation policy
support system’ and ‘gap between science-industry, public-private, transfer’ are shared with
Moderate in Transition countries.
These results lead to further consideration of countries which are similar to New Zealand in
terms of NIS challenges. Table 2.4 lists the countries which share similar challenges to New
Zealand. Four out of the 15 European countries have three key challenges in common with
New Zealand: Czech Republic, Belgium, Estonia and Slovenia. Also Taiwan and Australia
share three challenges with New Zealand and South Korea shares four challenges. Thus, in
terms of NIS challenges, New Zealand is similar to South Korea, three of the four Moderate
in Transition countries, plus Belgium, and it is similar to Taiwan and Australia.
Table 2.4: Challenges of countries which share three or more challenges with New Zealand
Challenges
Enlarging the base of (small,
Cz Bel Est Slo S. Kor Tai Aus N Z
indigenous) firms involved in
innovation
1 1 1 1 1
Public R&D expenditures/capacity 1 1 1
Private R&D expenditures 1 1 1 1
HR, for research 1 1 1 1 1 1
Coherence, fragmentation policy
support system
1 1 1 1 1
New firms, VC, entrepreneurship 1 1
Gap between science-industry,
public-private, transfer
Impact from crisis on system and
policy
1 1 1 1 1 1 1
More focus and prioritisation
Improve governance mechanisms,
evaluation, intelligence
1 1
User-, demand-driven, services,
non-tech innovation policy
1 1 1
Internationalisation of system 1 1
Growth, productivity,
competitiveness return from RTDI
1 1
Number of shared challenges with
New Zealand
3 3 3 3 4 3 3 3
Another way to consider countries which are similar to New Zealand is to count the number
of countries with the same challenges as New Zealand. In Table 2.5, for each of the
challenges reported for New Zealand, the case-study countries which share a similar challenge
are identified. The challenge of ‘Internationalisation’ which is characteristic for New Zealand
is only shared with three other countries among our sample, namely: Finland, Singapore, and
South Korea. Especially in the latter two countries there are many different policy schemes
which promote internationalization of the NIS. In Singapore these policy efforts are very
diverse: not only supporting the internationalization of its public research base but also
supporting companies, in attracting foreign researchers and investments (e.g., the
International Headquarters Scheme, the Singapore International Manpower Programme) and
through International Enterprise supporting business development activities in overseas
markets by local firms. In South Korea and Finland the focus of policy efforts seems to be
more on strengthening the international competitiveness of the public research infrastructure,
although for instance the scheme ‘International Science and Business Belt (ISBB) in South
Korea also suggests that public-private linkages are also seen as modes of internationalization.
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