The Triple Helix Perspective of Innovation Systems

TL;DR

This paper presents a neo-evolutionary Triple Helix model of innovation systems, emphasizing interactions among universities, industries, and governments as three selection environments influencing technological and economic development.

Contribution

It offers a neo-evolutionary interpretation of the Triple Helix model, highlighting the dynamic interactions and social functions of innovation systems across different environments.

Findings

Empirical case studies illustrate the operation of evolutionary mechanisms.

The model helps distinguish between innovation trajectories and regimes.

Interactions among the three environments drive technological innovation.

Abstract

Alongside the neo-institutional model of networked relations among universities, industries, and governments, the Triple Helix can be provided with a neo-evolutionary interpretation as three selection environments operating upon one another: markets, organizations, and technological opportunities. How are technological innovation systems different from national ones? The three selection environments fulfill social functions: wealth creation, organization control, and organized knowledge production. The main carriers of this system-industry, government, and academia-provide the variation both recursively and by interacting among them under the pressure of competition. Empirical case studies enable us to understand how these evolutionary mechanisms can be expected to operate in historical instance. The model is needed for distinguishing, for example, between trajectories and regimes.