Variety of national innovation systems (NIS) and alternative pathways to growth beyond the middle-income stage: Balanced, imbalanced, catching-up, and trapped NIS
Summary. This study analyzes national innovation systems across 32–35 economies using patent data to identify pathways for growth beyond middle-income status. The research identifies five distinct innovation system clusters and confirms two successful catching-up pathways: balanced systems (Ireland, Spain, Hong Kong, Singapore) and imbalanced systems (Korea, Taiwan, China). Other economies remain trapped in middle-income status due to opposite characteristics in technology cycle time, originality, localization, and diversification.
Cite this article
Lee, K., Lee, J., & Lee, J.. (2021). Variety of national innovation systems (NIS) and alternative pathways to growth beyond the middle-income stage: Balanced, imbalanced, catching-up, and trapped NIS. World Development. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2021.105472
Lee, Keun, et al. “Variety of national innovation systems (NIS) and alternative pathways to growth beyond the middle-income stage: Balanced, imbalanced, catching-up, and trapped NIS.” World Development, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2021.105472.
Lee, Keun, Jong-Ho Lee, and Juneyoung Lee. 2021. “Variety of national innovation systems (NIS) and alternative pathways to growth beyond the middle-income stage: Balanced, imbalanced, catching-up, and trapped NIS.” World Development. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2021.105472.
@article{lee-2021-variety-national-innovation-systems-nis,
title = {Variety of national innovation systems (NIS) and alternative pathways to growth beyond the middle-income stage: Balanced, imbalanced, catching-up, and trapped NIS},
author = {Keun Lee and Jong-Ho Lee and Juneyoung Lee},
journal = {World Development},
year = {2021},
doi = {10.1016/j.worlddev.2021.105472},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2021.105472}
}
TY - JOUR TI - Variety of national innovation systems (NIS) and alternative pathways to growth beyond the middle-income stage: Balanced, imbalanced, catching-up, and trapped NIS AU - Keun Lee AU - Jong-Ho Lee AU - Juneyoung Lee JO - World Development PY - 2021 DO - 10.1016/j.worlddev.2021.105472 UR - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2021.105472 ER -
Details
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.worlddev.2021.105472
- Countries
- United States, Ireland, Spain, Hong Kong, Singapore, India, Russia, South Korea, Taiwan, China, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Mexico, South Africa, Malaysia, Thailand
- Regions
- North America, Europe, Asia, South America, Africa
- Categories
- innovation-theory, regional-innovation-systems, general-innovation
- Added
- 2026-04-28