ABSTRACT
Ongoing change in international markets creates a continued need for techno-industrial innovation in the Western industrialized countries. But the more the future of their socioeconomic development relies on science-based industries, the more those countries must foster innovation and participation in new world markets. It is not simply a question of how to promote and support the activities that may already exist in each country. It is also a question of the organization of the innovation process itself within the limitations presented by national settings and the variations between technologies. This brings the state back in. The techno-scientific progress that is basic to techno-industrial innovation is related to, and is a product of, state activities. Access to appropriate markets is facilitated by state activities. And the orientation of the enterprises that make up the neces sary industrial structure for these research intensive products is contingent upon incentives that are set by state policies.
