ABSTRACT
While governments in the advanced market economies have for many years been involved in the formulation of policies designed to stimulate scientific advance and technological change, it was not until the mid-1970s that explicit “innovation” policies emerged. Innovation policy represented an integration of the more traditional “industrial policy” and “science and technology policy”. During the early 1980s public policy emphasis once again shifted when governments began to introduce so-called “technology policies”. Technology policy involves the selection and development of particular generic technologies or high-technology product groups. Today all advanced European economies have adopted technology policies for the support of information technology and biotechnology. This article discusses and compares technology policies in the United Kingdom, France, and the Federal Republic of Germany, as well as policies operating at the European level promulgated by the EEC.
KEYWORDS:
Innovation; R&D; technology