2010 年 11 月 6 日

書き抜き読書ノート 769

OECD 編「The OECD Innovation Strategy − Getting A Head Start on Tomorrow」
OECD,2010 年刊を読む
The OECD Innovation Strategy − Getting A Head Start on Tomorrow

１． Innovation drives growth and helps addresssocial challenges(１)The past two years have seen reduced potential output growth, increased unemploymentand soaring public debt. To recover and move towards a more sustainable growth path, newsources of growth are urgently needed.
(２)At the same time, some traditional sources of growth are declining in importance. Manycountries have stagnating or declining populations, and this reduces the role of labour input
in long-term economic growth. Moreover, investments in physical capital face diminishingreturns and may be insufficient to strengthen long-term growth, especially in advanced
economies. Innovation, which involves the introduction of a new or significantly improved
product, process or method, will increasingly be needed to drive growth and employment andimprove living standards. This is true as well for emerging economies that look to innovation
as a way to enhance competitiveness, diversify their economy and move towards more highvalue added activities.
(３)Innovation is already an important driver of growth in some countries. Firms in several
OECD countries now invest as much in intangible assets, such as research and development(R&D), software, databases and skills, as in physical capital, such as equipment orstructures. Much multifactor productivity (MFP) growth is linked to innovation andimprovements in efficiency. Preliminary estimates indicate that in Austria, Finland, Sweden,
the United Kingdom and the United States, investment in intangible assets and MFP growth
together accounted for between two-thirds and three-quarters of labour productivity growth
between 1995 and 2006, thereby making innovation the main driver of growth. Differences inMFP also account for much of the gap between advanced and emerging countries. Thissuggests that innovation is also a key source of future growth for emerging economies.
(４)This economic challenge coincides with increasing political pressure to meet various social
challenges, such as climate change, health, food security, or access to clean water, many ofwhich are global in nature or require global action. These challenges cannot be dealt with by
any single country and require better co-ordination of effort by countries and through bothsupply- and demand-side interventions. Innovation is crucial for solving such problems in an-1-

affordable and timely manner. In the absence of innovation, addressing climate change, forexample, will be considerably more costly. Moreover, innovationdriven growth makes it
easier for governments to make the necessary investments and undertake the policy
interventions to address these challenges.

２． Action on innovation must be a priority
for emerging from the crisis(１)The crisis has only served to underscore the need for innovation as a way to provide newsolutions. While expenditure cuts are needed, governments must continue to invest in futuresources of growth, such as education, infrastructure and research. Cutting back public
investment in support of innovation may provide short-term fiscal relief, but will damage thefoundations of long-term growth. Public investment in basic research, in particular, provides
the seeds for future innovation, as it did in the past for the Internet and the Human Genome
Project. It will also be needed to foster the breakthrough technologies for dealing withclimate change and other global challenges.
(２)At the same time, there is considerable scope to improve the efficiency of government
spending and innovate in the delivery of public services. Reforms of education and training
systems and public research institutions, for example, can help increase returns from public
investment in innovation. Moreover, many policy actions that can help strengthen innovation
do not require additional or significant public investment. Structural policy reforms of theframework conditions that support innovation, such as the removal of regulatory barriers toinnovation and entrepreneurship, including administrative regulations, as well pro-growth
tax reforms, can do much to strengthen innovation and growth.
(３)In most countries, markets can also be strengthened to unleash demand for innovative
products and services that meet social and global needs. Getting prices right, opening
markets for competition and devising innovation-inducing standards and smart regulations
are among the approaches that governments can use to unleash innovation in areas such as
health and the environment. Better use of public procurement can also be effective, inparticular when government is a large consumer. Well-designed demand-side policies are lessexpensive than direct support measures; they are also not directed at specific firms, but
reward innovation and efficiency. Demand is closely linked to supply, however, andsupply-side policies are necessary to create the conditions for business to innovate.

３． Policies need to reflect innovation as
it occurs today(１)If policies to promote innovation are to be effective, they need to reflect the ways in which
innovation takes place today. To transform invention successfully into innovation requires a-2-

range of complementary activities, including organisational changes, firm-level training,testing, marketing and design. Science continues to be an essential ingredient of innovation,even though innovation now encompasses much more than R&D. Innovation also rarely
occurs in isolation; it is a highly interactive and multidisciplinary process and increasingly
involves collaboration by a growing and diverse network of stakeholders, institutions andusers. Moreover, the emergence of new and important players has added to the complexity ofthe multifaceted international landscape of innovation.
(２)These and other changes in the innovation process present a challenge to existing national
policy frameworks. Policy will need to move beyond supply-side policies focused on R&D andspecific technologies to a more systemic approach that takes account of the many factors andactors that influence innovation performance. The objective of policy should not beinnovation as such, but the application of innovation to make life better for individuals andsociety at large. This is no easy task, especially as the scope for policies for innovation
broadens. The objective of the OECDs Innovation Strategy is to support this process ofpolicy development, recognising thatone size does not fit all. It is built around fivepriorities for government action, which together form a coherent and comprehensive
approach to policies for innovation that can help underpin an innovation-led recovery andstrengthen the role of innovation in the long run.

４． People should be empowered to innovate(１)Human capital is the essence of innovation. Empowering people to innovate relies on
broad and relevant education as well as on the development of wide-ranging skills thatcomplement formal education. Curricula and pedagogies need to be adapted to equip
students with the capacity to learn and apply new skills throughout their lives. At the sametime, education and skills development systems require reform to ensure they are efficientand meet the requirements of society today. Improving teacher quality is particularly
important for enhancing outcomes; this might include better initial selection of teachers,
ongoing evaluation to identify areas for improvement, and recognising and rewarding
effective teaching.
(２)Universities, colleges and vocational training centres are essential nodes in the innovation
system, both producing and attracting the human capital needed for innovation. These
institutions act as essential bridges between players – businesses, governments andcountries – in broader and more open systems of innovation. The major policy challenge is torecognise the essential role of universities in the innovation enterprise rather view them, as
is all too commonly the case, simply as providers of essential public goods. This requires a
greater focus of policy makers on ensuring independence, competition, excellence,
entrepreneurial spirit and flexibility in universities.
-3-(３)Entrepreneurs are particularly important actors in innovation, as they help to turn ideas
into commercial applications. In the United States in 2007, firms less than five years old
accounted for nearly two-thirds of net new jobs. Successful entrepreneurship often comeswith practice, hence the importance of experimentation, entry and exit. Yet, only a smallpart of the population receives entrepreneurial education. Education and training policies
should help foster an entrepreneurial culture by instilling the skills and attitudes needed for
creative enterprise.
(４)Internationally mobile talent contributes to the creation and diffusion of knowledge,
particularly tacit knowledge. To encourage this circulation of knowledge, governments should
build absorptive capacity, open labour markets to foreign students, and ensure that the tax
regime does not penalise mobile skilled workers. For their part, sending countries can put
into place policies that provide opportunities for expatriate researchers to re-enter thedomestic labour market. Migration regimes for the highly skilled should be efficient,transparent and simple and enable movement on a short-term or circular basis. Related
policies need to be coherent with the wider migration agenda, and with development and aid
policies, so as to contribute to the effective management of migration.
(５)People participate in innovation not only by creating, diffusing or adapting technologies in
the workplace, but also as consumers. Consumer policy regimes and consumer education
should improve the functioning of markets by helping to equip consumers to become active
participants in the innovation process and enable them to make informed choices. This has
the added benefit of strengthening competition between businesses. It is essential to ensurethat the information provided to consumers is easily understandable and takes account of
how people process information.

５． Innovation in firms must be unleashed(１)Firms are essential for translating good ideas into jobs and wealth. New and young firms
are particularly important, as they often exploit technological or commercial opportunities
that have been neglected by more established companies. Both market entry and exit areindispensable for the experimentation that leads to the development of new technologies andmarkets. Simplifying and reducing start-up regulations and administrative burdens canreduce barriers to entry. Bankruptcy laws should be less punitive for entrepreneurs andshould offer more favourable conditions for the restructuring of ailing businesses, with due
regard to risk management and the need to avoid moral hazard.
(２)Between 20% and 40% of entering firms fail within the first two years. Reallocation ofresources to more efficient and innovative firms is crucial to innovation and economic
growth. Labour market policies should provide the flexibility needed to reallocate resources-4-

from declining to innovative firms, along with support for lifelong learning and re-skilling ofworkers.
(３)The tax climate for entrepreneurs should be made more neutral; potential entrepreneurs
may also be discouraged from leaving their current employment by the financial and healthcosts associated with losing employer-based health insurance

and social

security

contributions. Where possible, barriers to the transferability of such benefits should belowered.
(４)The growth of firms is a particular challenge in many countries. Low regulatory barriers
can help ensure that high-growth firms do not spend the capital they need to support theirgrowth on overcoming bureaucratic obstacles. Administrative, social and tax requirementsthat rise with the size of the company should be reviewed as they increase the cost ofgrowth. Policy can also help existing small and medium-sized firms enhance their capacity toinnovate, e.g. in supporting the formation of relevant skills.
(５)Access to finance is a key constraint for business-led innovation, which is inherently risky
and may require a long-term horizon. Restoring the health of the financial system should
therefore be a priority. Well-functioning venture capital markets and the securitisation ofinnovation-related assets ( e.g. intellectual property) are key sources of finance for many
innovative start-ups and need to be developed further. Financial markets should continue toprovide sufficient room for healthy risk taking, long-term investment and entrepreneurship,
all key drivers of innovation, while ensuring safeguards in case of failure. When public funds
are deployed to ease access to finance, they should be channelled through existing
market-based systems, and take a clear market approach.

６． The creation, diffusion and application ofknowledge is critical(１)The creation, diffusion and application of knowledge are essential to the ability of firms
and countries to innovate and thrive in an increasingly competitive global economy. Sciencecontinues to be at the heart of innovation and public research institutions in many OECD
countries require reform in order to maintain excellence and improve collaboration with thebusiness sector.
(２)Today, high-speed communication networks support innovation throughout the economy
much as electricity and transport networks spurred innovation in the past. Governments
should also foster ICTs, in particular broadband networks, as platforms for innovation by
upholding the open, free, decentralised and dynamic nature of the Internet.

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(３)In addition to hardware and software, ICT infrastructure includes information that is
publicly generated or funded. Provision of this information at no or low cost can stimulateinnovation and improve the transparency and efficiency of government. Obstacles that
impede the commercial and non-commercial re-use of public-sector information should be
addressed including restrictive or unclear rules governing access and conditions of reuse;
unclear and inconsistent pricing of information when re-use is chargeable; and complex andlengthy licensing procedures. In general, public information should remain open so as toeliminate exclusive arrangements and allow innovative commercial and non-commercial
re-use.
(４)Intellectual property rights (IPRs) provide an important incentive to invest in innovation
by enabling firms to recover their investment costs. IPRs should be well protected andappropriately enforced. They contribute to the creation of innovation and are important for
diffusing knowledge and creating value. A variety of collaborative mechanisms, such as
licensing markets or pools and clearing houses, can facilitate access to and use of knowledge.
Patent systems need to be properly tailored to ensure a proper balance between incentives
for innovation and the public benefit that flows from dissemination of the knowledge in themarketplace.
(５)In an economy increasingly based on knowledge and innovation, the development of fully
functioning knowledge networks and markets could have a significant impact on theefficiency and effectiveness of the innovation effort. Some good practices exist but significant
scale-up is required. Governments can first, underpin the development of a knowledge
networking infrastructure; second, implement measures, such as the OECD Guidelines on
Access to Research Data from Public Funding, to share public-sector knowledge and data;
and third, foster the development of collaborative mechanisms and brokerages to encourage
the exchange of knowledge and ensure a fair return on investments made.

７． Innovation can be applied to address global
and social challenges(１)Innovation is a means of dealing with global and social challenges. Global challenges need
to be addressed collectively through global solutions and bilateral and multilateralinternational co-operation. However, current global challenges require more concerted
approaches to accelerate technology development and diffusion and bring innovative products
to the market. A new model for the governance of multilateral co-operation on international
science, technology and innovation should be explored. It could focus on setting priorities,
funding and institutional arrangements, procedures to ensure access to knowledge andtransfer of technology, capacity building, and the delivery of new innovations into
widespread use.
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(２)For many of these challenges, market failures – including the simple absence of a market– limit investment and the development and deployment of innovations. Pricing ofenvironmental externalities, such as carbon emissions, will be an important trigger forinnovation. Tax policies or other economic instruments can provide the necessary signal andthus foster a market for innovations, as can the removal of environmentally harmfulsubsidies. Policies should allow the private sector to identify the most promising means ofaddressing global problems through innovation. Governments will need to take the lead inareas that firms find too risky and uncertain through investment in public research andwell-designed support for pre-competitive research in the private sector.
(３)Low-income countries face specific challenges for making innovation the engine ofeconomic development, including poor framework conditions and low human and social
capital. In these countries, policies should focus on enhancing educational attainment andstrengthening framework conditions. Modernising agriculture through a locally adapted
approach in which entrepreneurship, agricultural productivity, and value addition drive
poverty reduction and green growth is particularly important.

８． The governance and measurement ofpolicies for innovation should be improved(１)Given the increasingly central role of innovation in delivering a wide range of economic
and social objectives, a whole-of-government approach to policies for innovation is needed.
This requires stable platforms for co-ordinating actions, a focus on policies with a mediumand long-term perspective, and leadership by policy makers at the highest level. Involving
stakeholders in policy development can help develop a shared vision and make policies more
effective in meeting social goals. This also involves coherence and complementarities between
the local, regional, national and international levels.
(２)Evaluation is essential to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of policies to foster
innovation and deliver social welfare. Improved means of evaluation are needed to capture
the broadening of innovation, along with better feedback of evaluation into the policy-making
process. This also calls for improved measurement of innovation, including its outcomes andimpacts.

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