The design of transformative research and innovation policy instruments for grand challenges : The policy-nesting perspective

Summary, in English

Several countries have created policy instruments seeking to direct research and innovation (R&I) toward addressing societal challenges. However, the design of such instruments might not always live up to their proclaimed transformative rationale. The aim of this paper is to examine empirically this matter. In a unique cross country comparison of four Grand Challenge-oriented R&I programs in the Nordic countries, we ask to what extent the design of new policy instruments for grand challenges are nested according to the rationale of transformative R&I policy. The findings show that, while all have individual transformative elements, they only exhibit weak or medium degrees of nesting. At a time of increasing transformative ambition of R&I policies, our findings make an important contribution to understanding and addressing the complexity of designing R&I transformative policy instruments.

• Author: Susana Borrás; Sylvia Schwaag Serger
• Department/s: Department of Economic History
• Publishing year: 2022-10-01
• Language: English
• Pages: 659-672
• Publication/Series: Science and Public Policy
• Volume: 49
• Issue: 5
• Links: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/scipol/scac017
• Document type: Journal article
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Topic: Other Social Sciences
• Keywords: grand challenges; innovation policy; policy instruments; research policy; sustainable development goals; transformative innovation
• Status: Published
• ISBN/ISSN/Other: ISSN: 0302-3427