Non-technological regulatory effects: Implications for innovation and innovation policy

This paper considers the link between public policy and innovation and contributes to the notion that public policies that do not directly address innovation carry along important implications for it. It explores the role of regulation for innovation and innovation policy by emphasizing the importance of non-technological regulatory effects for innovation and their potential as an input for innovation policy. The output of in depth interviews with stakeholders from the detergents industry is combined with various sources of secondary data and reveals a variety of non-technological novelties attributed to regulation that are relevant to innovation. These results are then matched against the objectives of innovation policy, an exercise that gives better insights on the policy links between regulation and innovation policy and concludes on the domains of complementarities between the two. We find that that regulatory policy can contribute to the achievement of targets set by innovation policy while innovation policy measures can facilitate the compensation of negative regulatory implications for innovation.

► We explore the non-technological implications of regulation for innovation. ► We address the policy links between regulation and innovation. ► Regulations can contribute to the achievement of innovation policy objectives. ► Innovation policy measures can facilitate the compensation of negative regulatory implications for innovation.