ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes if, and how, the concept of long waves of economic development contributes to explaining the diversity of innovation and innovation policies which can be observed in the economy. The technology-economic innovation paradigm has been extended to include firm-external expertise and customers into the innovation process and thus contains elements of systemic approaches. In industries in which a symbolic knowledge base is dominant, innovation is the result of creating meaning, aesthetic qualities and desire, and creating economic value by attaching certain attributes to products and services. The dominant synthetic knowledge bases required skills strongly based on concrete know-how, craft, and practical abilities; innovation policy therefore focused on providing or supporting professional schools and on-the-job-training. The long wave-perspective on innovation suggests that the innovation process during a wave will take a turn from financial market-driven innovation to demand for goods-driven innovation.
