Authors

• Research Institute of the Finnish Economy (ETLA)

Keywords

businesses, innovation activities, innovation policy, networks, organizations

Abstract

The survey is part of the larger INNOEVAL survey evaluating the Finnish National Innovation System from several angles. In this study, the opinions of Finnish firms on the Finnish National Innovation System were queried.

First, the respondents were not only asked to rate the current Finnish National Innovation System (NIS), but also the NIS as it was five years ago, and the NIS as it is expected to be after five years. Their views were probed on the role of public sector actors in the Finnish NIS from the point of view of their own firms. In addition, they indicated the importance of various actors (e.g. Tekes (the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation), Sitra (the Finnish Innovation Fund), the Academy of Finland) for their firms. The respondents were also asked to evaluate the orientation of the current Finnish innovation policy on a scale from "strong technology push" to "strong demand pull". Next, they indicated whether universities, polytechnics and public research organisations have successfully taken care of various tasks, such as international top-class research, research for the national needs, and the production of experts for the international business activities as well as for the needs of local business activities.

Views were charted on the innovation system's ability to support growth entrepreneurship. In addition, the respondents were asked whether they experienced that the NIS also promotes regional policy agendas, and whether the national innovation policy is equally effective in all regions of Finland. The respondents were asked about the importance of national and international networks on the activities of their own organisations, and they were presented with a set of attitudinal statements on the impact of the new Universities Act, the centres of strategic excellence (SHOKs), and the potential reform of publicly funded research organisations on the NIS.

The primary source of earnings for the respondents' companies was charted, as well as the companies' primary position in the distribution chain. The respondents evaluated the importance of various aspects, such as a generally positive attitude towards risk taking in society and a motivating company and capital taxation scheme, from the perspective of their operations. In addition, they characterised the innovation system against the backdrop of facilitating private business and innovation activities, and gave their opinions on how efficient they considered tax incentives regarding earnings and profit sharing in increasing the number of growth companies. The respondents were also asked about whether their companies had engaged in innovation activities in the last three years, how important they considered various domestic and foreign factors from the perspective of their companies' innovation activities, and what kind of role end users had in their innovation activities. Finally, the respondents were asked whether any of their companies' investment, R&D, or any other type of projects had been deferred or cancelled due to the global financial crisis.