This article focuses on how a major shift in government policies can transform the national innovation system (NIS) of a developing country. Thailand's used to be a typical developing country NIS. It was quite weak and fragmented. Major change took place when Thaksin Shinawatra became prime minister in 2001. New policies and practices, which can be group together as ‘Thaksinomics’, transformed not only the government sector, but also two other leading actors of the NIS: private firms and university. Even though it is too early to draw final conclusions of the effects of Thaksin policies on Thai NIS, it is true that it became stronger and more coherent. The experience of Thailand demonstrates that a national innovation system of a latecomer country can transform from a long-standing character of a weak, fragmented and slow-learning one to a stronger, coherent and more-active-learning one, if there is a significant change in the behaviour of a key actor that can cause positive effects in other actors.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Amsden, A . 1989. Asia's Next Giant: South Korea and Late Industrialisation. New York: Oxford University Press .
2.
Arnold, Erik , Martin Bell , John Bassant and Peter Brimble . 2000. Enhancing Policy and Institutional Support for Industrial Technology Development in Thailand. Washington, DC: World Bank .
3.
Bell, M . and D. Scott-Kemmis . 1985. Technological Capacity and Technical Change. Draft Working Paper Nos 1, 2, 4 and 6, Report on Technology Transfer in Manufacturing Industry in Thailand, Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex, Brighton.
4.
Brooker Group. 2001. ‘Technology Innovation of Industrial Enterprises in Thailand’ . Final reported prepared for National Science and Technology Development Agency, Bangkok.
5.
Chang, H . 1994. The Political Economic of Industrial Policy. London: Macmillan .
6.
Chantramonklasri, N. 1985. ‘Technological Responses to Rising Energy Prices: A Study of Technological Capability and Technological Change Efforts in Energy-Intensive Manufacturing Industries in Thailand’. Unpublished D.Phil. thesis, Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex, Brighton.
7.
College of Management. 2003. S&T Needs and Production of Manpower in the Manufacturing Sector (in Thai). Bangkok: Mahildol University .
8.
Dahlman, C . and P. Brimble . 1990. ‘Technology Strategy and Policy for Industrial Competitiveness: A Case Study of Thailand’ . Paper prepared for the World Bank, Bangkok, April.
9.
Doner, R . 1992. ‘Politics and the Growth of Local Capital in Southeast Asia: Auto Industries in the Philippines and Thailand’, in R. McVey (ed.), Southeast Asian Capitalists, Southeast Asia Program (SEAP). New York: Cornell University Press , pp. 223–45.
10.
Evans, P . 1989. ‘The Future of the Developmental State’ , Korean Journal of Policy Studies, 4(2): 129–46 .
11.
Evans, P . 1998. ‘Transferable Lessons? Re-examining the Institutional Prerequisites of East Asian Economic Policies’ , Development Studies, 34(6): 66–86 .
12.
Hobday, M . 1995. Innovation in East Asia: The Challenge to Japan. Aldershot: Edward Elgar .
13.
Hou, C . and S. Gee . 1993. ‘National Systems Supporting Technical Advance in Industry: The Case of Taiwan’, in R. Nelson (ed.), National Innovation System. Oxford: Oxford University Press , pp. 384–413.
14.
Institute of Management Development (IMD). 2003. World Competitiveness Yearbook. Lausanne: IMD .
15.
Intarakumnerd, P. , Pun-arj Chairatana and Tipawan Tangchitpiboon . 2002. ‘National Innovation System in Less Successful Developing Countries: The Case of Thailand’ , Research Policy, 31(8–9): 1445–57 .
16.
Intarakumnerd, P . and T. Virasa . 2002. ‘Taxonomy of Government Policies and Measures in Supporting Technological Capability Development of Latecomer Firms’ . Paper presented at the Sixth International Conference on Technology Policy and Innovation, Kansai, Japan, August.
17.
Johnson, C . 1982. MITI and the Japanese Miracle: The Growth of Industrial Policy, 1925–1975. California: Stanford University Press .
18.
Kim, L . 1993. ‘National System of Industrial Innovation: Dynamics of Capability Building in Korea’, in R. Nelson (ed.), National Innovation System. Oxford: Oxford University Press , pp. 357–83.
19.
Kim, L . 1997. Imitation to Innovation: The Dynamics of Korea's Technological Learning. Massachusetts: Harvard Business School Press .
20.
Lall, S . 1996. Learning from the Asian Tigers: Studies in Technology and Industrial Policy. London: Macmillan Press .
21.
Lall, S . 1998. ‘Technology Capabilities in Emerging Asia’ , Oxford Development Studies, 26(2): 213–39 .
22.
Lauridsen, L . 2000. ‘Industrial Policies, Political Institutions and Industrial Development in Thailand 1959–1991’ . Working Paper No. 21, International Development Studies, Roskilde University, Roskilde.
23.
Lauridsen, L . 2002. ‘Coping with the Triple Challenge of Globalization, Liberalization and Crisis: The Role of Industrial Technology Policies and Technology Institutions in Thailand’ , European Journal of Development Research, 14(1): 101–25 .
24.
Mukdapitak, Y. 1994. ‘The Technology Strategies of Thai Firms’. Unpublished D.Phil. Thesis, Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex, Brighton.
25.
Odagiri, H . and A. Goto . 1993. ‘The Japanese System of Innovation: Past, Present and Future’, in R. Nelson (ed.), National Innovation System. Oxford: Oxford University Press , pp. 76–114.
26.
OECD. 1997. Oslo Manual: Proposed Guidelines for Collecting and Interpreting Technological Innovation Data. Paris: OECD .
27.
OECD. 2001. Frascati Manual: Proposed Standard Practice for Surveys on Research and Experimental Development. Paris: OECD .
28.
Phasukavanich, C . 2003. ‘The Pace of Thailand through the Year 2020’. Presentation by Chakramon Phasukavanich, Bangkok , 20 May.
29.
Pornawilai, S . 2004. Investigating Thansinomics (in Thai). Bangkok: Openbooks .
30.
Sripaipan, C. , S. Vanichseni and Y. Mukdapitak . 1999. Technological Innovation policy of Thailand (Thai version). Bangkok: National Science and Technology Development Agency .
31.
Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI). 1989. The Development of Thailand's Technology Capability in Industry. Bangkok: TDRI .
32.
Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI). 1998. ‘Effective Mechanisms for Supporting Private Sector Technology Development and Needs for Establishing Technology Development Financing Corporation’ . Report submitted to National Science and Technology Development Agency, Bangkok.
33.
Time Asia Magazine. 2003. 27 October.
34.
Tiralap, A. 1990. ‘The Economics of the Process of Technological Change of the Firm: The Case of the Electronics Industry in Thailand’. Unpublished D.Phil. thesis, Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex, Brighton.
35.
Vongpivat, P. 2003. ‘A National Innovation System Model: An Industrial Development in Thailand’. Unpublished D.Phil. thesis, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University.
36.
Wong, P . 1996. National Systems of Innovation: The Case of Singapore, Korea, Taiwan. Singapore: Science and Technology Policy Institute .
37.
Wong, P . 1999. ‘National Innovation Systems for Rapid Technological Catch-up: An Analytical Framework and a Comparative Analysts of Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore’ . Paper presented at the DRUID's Summer Conference 1999, Rebild, Denmark.
