The policy implications of the globalisation of innovation

Abstract

Globalisation is not a single phenomenon, but a catch-all concept to describe a wide range of forces. The importance of globalisation is currently the focus of a vivid controversy. On the one hand, there are those who maintain that globalisation has effectively contaminated the greater part of economic life (Ohmae, 1990; Chesnais, 1994; Barnet and Cavanagh, 1994; Brecher and Costello, 1994; Perraton et al., 1997); on the other, there are those who take a more sceptical view (Ruigrok and van Tulder, 1995; Michie and Grieve Smith, 1995; Hirst and Thompson, 1996). However, the terms of the debate are often unclear as three issues, which although related should be kept separate, are not well clarified.