The overarching objective of WBinNO is to assist policy makers in the Western Balkan countries to develop and implement innovation policies by way of identifying appropriate good practices in other countries and through the analysis of their emerging innovation systems. These countries depend on the creation, transfer and use of knowledge to catch-up with technological leaders, such as Norway.

Success depends on the development and implementation of new institutions and policy instruments that are complementary to the needs of the local economy. Identifying good practices, in support of sustainable economic development and catching-up, depends on policymakers having a better understanding of the innovation system, including its economic, political and cultural institutions, and the relevant policy instruments.

In the project, Norway provides the model or a framework within which one can identify good policy practices and policy learning. Norway is a resource-based, knowledge-driven economy, which is relatively egalitarian, homogeneous and based on trust. It provides a good example for policy learning through its experience and use of expertise from many different sources, including the economic sciences. The western Balkan countries can benefit through this rich experience, despite its considerably diversity.

The project contains two research objectives, or work packages: 1) an analysis of the different innovation systems in the Balkan region, including formal (legal system) and informal (cultural system) institutional arrangements of the society; and 2) a study of innovation policy development, including the integration of different policy instruments into a coherent policy-mix, and policy learning. A variety of different methods may be used to provide a better understanding of how different actors are related to the innovation system as a whole.

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