Mapping the relationship between regulation and innovation from an interdisciplinary perspective: A critical systematic review of the literature

Abstract

A considerable amount of work has focused on “regulatory innovation” in the social sciences. This scholarship has conceptually defined certain types of regulatory changes as innovations and explored how regulation, as a policy instrument, alters the pace of technological innovation. More recently, a renewed interest for policy mixes and more dynamism in industrial innovation policies around the world has increased the demand for advanced knowledge in this area. In this article, we systematically review the literature on the innovation-regulation interplay, documenting its evolution, the prevailing thematic areas, and overlooked topics. While the orthodox regulatory stance, modeled on economic efficiency principles, is by far the main thrust, heterodox accounts, premised on systemic and evolutionary thinking, appear as important variations. The latter have recently burgeoned with new theoretical developments promoting the idea of regulation that not only allows for, but intentionally directs innovation.