Linking open innovation to national systems of innovation: a coevolutionary perspective

Abstract

This paper primarily intends to broaden the scope of open innovation (OI) by connecting this concept to the literature on national systems of innovation (NSI). The main assumption behind this paper is that OI entails new types of governance structures that enable companies to tap into widely distributed knowledge bases through rapidly proliferating technology markets. Given that the current state of research within NSI literature has shifted towards a functional approach, the various proposed functional portfolios within NSI are supposed to coevolve with the mechanisms that coordinate innovation activities (i.e., hierarchical, network, and technology markets). Establishing a relationship between OI and NSI enables us to extend the functional NSI portfolio to accommodate the paradigmatic shift in governance structure represented by OI.