Elsevier

Research Policy

Volume 7, Issue 2, April 1978, Pages 124-149
Research Policy

Government influence on the process of innovation in Europe and Japan

https://doi.org/10.1016/0048-7333(78)90002-1Get rights and content

Abstract

A total of 164 innovation projects were sampled in five industries to determine the effect, if any, of government policy on their conduct and outcome. Sixty-six of the projects had at the time of the study achieved commercial success, in the view of the firms involved. Fifty-one were considered failures, while 47 were still underway. Nearly half of the projects had been affected by one or more mechanisms of government policy. There is no indication that this degree of government involvement has either increased or decreased in recent years. There is also no indication that government involvement influenced success or failure, in any way. It does appear, however, that technology has been relatively successful in coping with government regulation in the area of safety, pollution control, etc., since projects affected by these policies were significantly more likely to be successful.

References (5)

  • J.M. Utterback

    The Process of Innovation Within the Firm

    Academy of Management Journal

    (1971)
  • Center for Policy Alternatives

    National Support for Science and Technology: An Evaluation of Foreign Experiences

    (1976)
There are more references available in the full text version of this article.

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The research reported in this paper was supported by the US National Science Foundation, Office of R & D Assessment, under Grant DA39172. J.H. Hollomon, N.A. Ashford, M.A. Sirbu and J.M. Utterback are with the Center of Policy Alternatives, MIT and T.J. Allen is with the Alfred P. Sloan School of Management, MIT.

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