The effects of national policy on biotechnology development

An assessment is made of the effectiveness of national policies for the biotechnology knowledge base and its commercialisation in 14 European Union member states. The assessment first reviews the various theoretical approaches that lie behind policies to promote the commercialisation of knowledge. It then discusses the EPOHITE study, including its aims, methodology and results. In the conclusions, the paper will use the results of the study to discuss any relationship between the policy approach of individual member states and their innovation performance. It will also discuss the application of the lessons learned from this study to the countries studied as well as to new member states of the EC and newly industrialising countries. Some of the difficulties to be overcome will also be tackled.