Introduction

One of the results of studying national systems of innovation (NSI) from the viewpoint of the production structure (cf. chapter 4) is that emphasis is put on the diversity of the economic system. A simplified system has few possibilities of interactive learning while a diversified system has many innovative possibilities (cf. chapter 2). This result needs some qualification but it may, nevertheless, be the starting point for an exploration of economic processes which involve changes in the degree of diversity. Such changes are at the forefront of international economics and they have indirectly been dealt with in chapters 10 and 11. However, the subject matter of the present chapter, the development and effects of international integration, is especially suited for dealing with the question of diversity. The core thesis of the chapter is that neglected but important effects of integration on innovation can be brought into focus by the approach developed in this book. The main line of argument is theoretical, but in section 12.4 some of the points are related to the competitiveness problems of EC's information technology sector.

Our starting point is the recent ‘Cost of Non-Europe’ analyses of the effects of the European Single Market (already mentioned in chapter 10) which have revitalised the age-old debates on international economic integration. As in the case of earlier debates there have been many verbal arguments on the innovative and evolutionary effects of the new increase in the degree of integration, but nearly all systematic studies neglect such arguments and stick to the productivity gains which can be obtained with the given products and processes.