Much of my research has focused on the impact of innovation and diffusion of technology on trade,
competitiveness and growth, and I have published extensively on these and related topics in books and journals.
A selection of my papers in this area is published as a book
(Technology, Growth and Competitiveness, Edward Elgar, 2002).
You can download the list of content and introduction.
The latter does not only summarize the main arguments of the book but also tells the story of how I have come to look at global dynamics in the way I do.
More recent contributions of mine on this topic include the articles "National Innovation systems, capabilities and economic development"
in Research Policy 2008 (with Martin Srholec) and "The Competitiveness of Nations: Why Some Countries Prosper While Others Fall Behind?"
in World Development 2007 (with Martin Srholec and Mark Knell).
Between 1996 and 1999 I was one of the coordinators of the large European project Technology, Economic Integration and Social Cohesion (TEIS) funded by European Commission
(in which more than 50 European researchers and 15 different institutions took part). This project resulted among other things in the
book "The Economic Challenge for Europe: Adapting to Innovation Based Growth"
(edited by Jan Fagerberg, Paolo Guerrieri and Bart Verspagen).
More recently I have broadened my interests to include the role of innovation in society more generally.
In 1999 I organized, with the support of the Norwegian Research Council, the "Innovation Studies Network"
The idea was to get a group of international scholars together and discuss central issues. In total there were four such meetings.
If you want to learn more about the discussions you can download the reports (written by PhD.-students at TIK).
In 2002 I initiated the TEARI
(Towards a European Area for Research and Innovation) project,
the purpose of which was to produce a comprehensive overview and synthesis of the role played by research
and innovation in modern societies. The project resulted in the publication of
"The Oxford Handbook of Innovation",
coedited with David Mowery and Richard Nelson, in October 2004. The project was financially supported by
the European Commission (FP5), The Norwegian Research Council and The Gulbenkian Foundation.
As a follow-up of the "Innovation Studies Network" and the TEARI projects I was chosen to head a cross-disciplinary
research group focusing on "Understanding Innovation"
at the Centre of Advanced Study (CAS) in Oslo during the academic
year 2007-2008. Around twenty scholars participated in activities of the group during that year, and many more participated
in the three international workshops organized by the group, focusing on
"Innovation in Firms",
"The Role of Public Sector Research in Innovation" and
"Evolutionary Theory and Policy", respectively.
More information on the activities of the group here.
Between 2003 and 2008 I also was responsible for the
IPP (Innovation, Path-dependency and Policy) project,
financed by the Norwegian Research Council, which focused on the working of the Norwegian Innovation System from a
historical and evolutionary perspective. Several researchers from the University and other research organizations in Norway
and elsewhere took part. The project resulted in a series of working papers
(downloadable) and a forthcoming book (January 2009),
"Innovation, Path Dependency and Policy: The Norwegian case"
, Oxford University Press, co-edited with David Mowery and Bart Verspagen. You will find a paper summarizing some of the main findings of
the project here.
Click here to watch my presentation at UNIDO on 'The historical and empirical dimensions of catching-up', Nov 2005.
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