The emergence of innovation policy as a field: The international context and the danish experience

This chapter traces the development of scholarly interest in innovation and innovation policy in the Western world in general and in Denmark in particular, ranging from the early post-war period to the early years of the new millennium. The chapter provides general information on the interplay between policymaking on the one hand, and societal development and understanding of innovation on the other. Specifically, it illustrates in detail the upsurge of innovation systems thinking in policymaking in Denmark and the forces behind this. We show that innovation policy instruments gradually evolved as a result of policy needs, changes in understanding innovation, business cycles and innovation policy development elsewhere. We find that there was a shift from fragmented policies towards a more integrated, systemic and holistic approach to policymaking from the mid- to late-1990s onwards.