Robert Hassink, Bonn

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<b>
Regional Innovation Support Systems in South Korea
        and Japan Compared
</b>

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Pages 228 - 245


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<!-- Abstract -->
Since the beginning of the 1990s systems of innovation
          have been used as a framework to explain differences in innovativeness
          both between firms, industries and economies at a local, regional, national
          and supranational level. The main argument behind the discussions around
          systems of innovation is that firms are increasingly dependent on institutions
          in their direct environment for their innovativeness and thus competitiveness.
          In regional innovation systems firms and other organisations are systematically
          engaged in interactive learning through an institutional milieu characterised
          by embeddedness. On the basis of these systems' governance infrastructure,
          a typology can be developed consisting of grassroots systems (with the
          highest level of regional embeddedness), integrated systems and dirigiste
          systems (with the lowest level of regional embeddedness). This paper
          aims at analysing and comparing regional innovation systems in South
          Korea and Japan and explaining the differences found between the countries&acute;
          systems. Based on empirical research on innovation support agencies
          in Kyongbuk-Taegi, South Korea and Hiroshima, Japan, this paper shows
          that South Korea is characterised by dirigiste regional innovation support
          systems, wheras Japan&acute;s regions have a mixture of relatively well
          co-ordinated national and regional agencies with higher levels of local
          interaction and &quot;systemness&quot; (integrated systems). The dirigiste
          kind of system found in South Korea generates both too homogenous innovation
          support agencies, which are not enough focused on specific regional
          economic demand, and horizontal policy co-ordnination problems due to
          strong vertical dependencies of agencies in the regions to their sponsors
          in the central government. The difference in type of systems found in
          South Koreas and Japan cannot be explained only by a time lag of development
          policies between the two countries, but also by other factors, suich
          as the long history of supporting small and medium-sized enterprises
          by Japanese prefectures, differences in collective trust and the size
          of the countries.

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