The Systems of Innovation (SI) approach understands innovation as an endogenous part of the economy, an approach closely allied to neo-Schumpterian theories about the dynamics of capitalism.
The work stresses that firms do not innovate in isolation but in interaction with other organizations such as firms, universities, standard setting agencies, and so on. These two volumes deal
with innovation of different kinds, such as national, regional, and sectoral systems and these are approached from different viewpoints, such as institutional and evolutionary economics, and
from innovation studies. The set also addresses questions about the importance of innovations for economic growth, for competitiveness and employment, as well as for issues related to
government policy and industry strategies in the field of innovations. The set is geared toward undergraduate and graduate students, for senior researchers, as well as for firm managers
interested in innovation. Of 43 essays, some of the more historically important are "The Process of Creative Destruction" (1979/76) by Joseph A. Schumpeter, and "The National Division of
Commercial Operations and the Confederation of the National Productive Forces" (1885) by Friedrich List. No author information and only a name index appears. Annotation c. Book News, Inc.,
Portland, OR (booknews.com)
