Research and innovation in a networked world

The existence of a fundamental relationship between invention, innovation, and economic growth, as insisted upon by Schumpeter, is increasingly taken as an article of faith in nations around the world. Yet, the inventions-to-growth relationship is today more complex and less bounded at the scale of the nation than ever before. Just as the inventions-to-growth policy model—focusing on the development of capabilities to undertake basic science and a nurturing of entrepreneurial talent—is beginning to gain widespread acceptance, its shortcomings are becoming increasingly evident. In this paper, we describe the model and its shortcomings, focusing on implications for innovation policy of the emergence of the “globally networked enterprise.”