Against the backdrop of a strong plea for evidence-based policy, this paper juxtaposes how innovation is analyzed in mainstream economics and evolutionary economics of innovation, as well as their concomitant policy rationales. By discussing the indicators selected for the Innovation Union...

Central European countries highlight the importance of institutions as they are of somewhat different nature in this diverse group of countries, given their different history. Briefly, before World War II there was a market economy in place in Central Europe – as opposed to most Eastern...

Accession countries, faced with the same challenge of joining the EU while still characterised by their own distinct level of socio-economic development, set of institutions, culture and norms, can benefit significantly from conducting foresight programmes. Yet, foresight should not be conducted...

The Hungarian science, technology and innovation (STI) policy governance structure has been reorganised at least once by every government since the 1990s, including the highest level policy-making bodies. Moreover, the latter ones have only worked intermittently: in certain periods had been...

‘Futures’ (images of the future) are often devised at the level of a single university or at a national level for the overall higher education system. However, the bulk of trends and driving forces shaping universities’ future are international in their nature and universities operate in...

Macroeconomic imbalances have been particularly pressing since 2006 in Hungary. The global economic and financial crisis has further aggravated the prospects for recovery, and access to capital has become even more difficult. Although overall conditions for doing business have improved in recent...

The paper first discusses alternative theoretical frameworks to analyse the impacts of FDI on host economies. Second, it provides an overview of major developments in the Hungarian automotive industry since the early 1990s, discussing both firm strategies and the macro level factors influencing...

The political and economic transition posed a complex, tremendous challenge in Hungary in the beginning of the 1990s. Not only macroeconomic stabilisation was required, but fundamental organisational and institutional changes were also needed to transform the country into a stable, middle-income...

This paper reports on the findings of interviews conducted with Hungarian firms on their overall business and innovation strategies and innovation activities to pursue three interconnected aims: a) better understand firm behaviour by analysing qualitative features of innovation processes...

The increasing number of foresight programmes suggests that foresight can be a useful policy tool in rather different national innovation systems. This paper is aimed at discussing the potential and actual role of foresight in governing policy processes. First the theoretical underpinnings of...