Innovation policy analysis and learning: Comparing Ireland and Taiwan

Abstract

Taiwan and Ireland are regarded as being similar in their geographic positions and economic performances. Both countries moved from being agricultural economies to become major regional players, and are often pointed to as examples of positive national development and innovation. The main purpose of this article is to compare the two island countries’ innovation policies in a national context. The taxonomy of innovation policy proposed by Rothwell and Zegveld [1981, Industrial innovation and public policy. London: Frances Printer Ltd.] was adopted as the analysis framework for this study. The comparison shows that Taiwan's government employs more top-down policy instruments such as providing government research funding and resources to target industries. The Irish government successfully creates an innovation-friendly environment to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) to facilitate research and development at the firm level. Finally, this article provides policy implications and recommendations based on what was learned from the comparison of the two countries.

Keywords:

• national innovation policy
• country studies
• Taiwan
• Ireland

Acknowledgements

Our deepest gratitude goes first and foremost to Professors Malecki and Anderson for their acceptance of our article. It is our greatest honor to publish our article in this famous and outstanding journal. Finally, we would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to the two innominate reviewers whose suggestions have helped to improve the article a lot. Without their consistent and illuminating instruction, this article could not have reached its present form.

Notes

1. Like all other areas of the European Framework Programme, TAP was focused on the construction of networks involved in the sharing of information, knowledge, and expertise, and bringing together service providers and users in different areas of activity such as health and education (Grimes and Collins 2002).

2. Near-market R&D support schemes to support the development of specific products and or processes with an immediate and clearly identified market application.

3. Pre-competitive R&D support schemes to fund applied research which has commercial potential but which is not linked to any specific product or process development. This type of R&D may be conducted within a company, university, or through a collaborative arrangement.

4. High-risk research is often associated with radical innovation.

5. Ireland's population was estimated in July 2007 at 4.1 million (CIA, The World Factbook 2007).

6. The corporate tax rate in Taiwan is 25% as opposed to 12.5% in Ireland (KMPG 2008).