National systems of biotechnology innovation: Complex interdependence in the global system

This paper explores the relationship between national institutional context and the development of biotechnology in the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, and Germany, National patterns in biotechnology R&D are linked to the configuration of country-specific institutional features into a system of innovation which supports (or impedes) the accumulation and diffusion of knowledge between the scientific and industrial communities, Building on this comparative analysis, it is argued that the particular characteristics of national systems of biotechnology innovation form the basis for complex interdependence within the global system, through international technological cooperation and the cross-border adoption and adaptation of institutional forms and practices, Implications for national technological advantage and the stability of national institutional systems are discussed.