Comparing systems approaches to innovation and technological change for sustainable and competitive economies: an explorative study into conceptual commonalities, differences and complementarities

This paper makes a distinction between three theoretical frameworks that have been highly influential in the discourse on innovation, competitiveness and sustainability: sectoral systems of innovation (SSI), technological innovation systems (TIS) and socio-technical systems (ST-Systems). These frameworks share a common systems approach to innovation but are often positioned as different bodies of literature that correspond to different epistemic communities. This paper is explorative and conceptual in nature. It presents a systematic comparative review of SSI, TIS and ST-Systems based on the following analytical dimensions: (1) system boundaries, (2) actors and networks, (3) institutions, (4) knowledge, (5) dynamics and (6) policy approach. In the concluding section commonalities and differences, of the three approaches, are presented and suggestions for complimentarily are made.