The Swedish National Innovation System 1970-2003 - Vinnova

some form of higher education has not been high
compared to most other OECD countries. In the
1990s and early 2000s, the Swedish position improved
considerably in this respect. In Sweden, people with
a higher education, particularly at research level, have
to a large extent been concentrated to knowledgeintensive
services, high-technology manufacturing
groups, universities and R&D institutes. Within the
business sector, knowledge-intensive business services
have rapidly increased the employment of people with
a higher education and now employ considerably more
natural scientists and engineers than the manufacturing
industry. Moreover, the most qualified human resources
within the manufacturing industry have to an increasing
extent become more concentrated to large industrial
groups.
Manufacturing SMEs belonging to large industrial
groups generally have a considerably higher proportion
of staff with a higher education background than
independent SMEs. This concentration tendency is not
as strong in the business sector for service SMEs as in
the manufacturing industry.
The general mobility rate in Sweden is not
particularly high by international standards, especially
in higher age cohorts. While the mobility of people
with a higher education has been high from university
education to industry, the mobility of people with
a similar background from the business sector to
universities or other parts of the public sector has been
very low.
Financing and incentive structures
The financing and incentive structures of the Swedish
national innovation system have primarily been geared
towards stimulating productivity improvements and
growth in large manufacturing groups. The knowledgeintensive
Swedish manufacturing industry has been
spurred to continuously rationalise production processes.
General tax structures, labour market structures, public
attitudes and public-private partnerships have all been
rather stimulating to large-firm capital accumulation and
growth in Sweden.
The general incentives for starting firms and
generating SME growth in Sweden have been much
weaker. Moreover, the pre-seed and the earliest seedstages
financing of R&D-based start-ups have remained
low and even decreased in Sweden in recent years. In
addition, the Swedish support structure for stimulating
commercialisation of R&D through start-ups and
growth of such firms is fragmented, nationally and
regionally.
The general incentive structures in the publicly
funded and highly university-based Swedish research
system do not provide strong incentives for knowledge
interaction and learning between university researchers
and businesses or public sector services. Even the
incentives for interaction between different university
departments, within or between different universities, are
not particularly strong.
8 THE SWEDISH NATIONAL INNOVATION SYSTEM 1970–2003