Innovation System Functions Analysis
Functions of Innovation Systems analysis explains technological change by examining how well an innovation system performs seven key functions—entrepreneurial activities, knowledge development, knowledge diffusion, guidance of the search, market formation, resource mobilisation, and the creation of legitimacy. Associated with Hekkert, Suurs, and colleagues at Utrecht, the approach operationalises these functions through event-history analysis: a chronological dataset of innovation events is coded, functional performance is tracked over time, and the reinforcing feedback loops—the 'motors' of cumulative causation—that drive a system's rise or stagnation are identified.
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Sources
- Hekkert, M. P., Suurs, R. A. A., Negro, S. O., Kuhlmann, S., & Smits, R. E. H. M. (2007). Functions of innovation systems: a new approach for analysing technological change. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 74(4), 413-432. DOI: 10.1016/j.techfore.2006.03.002 ↗
- Suurs, R. A. A., & Hekkert, M. P. (2009). Cumulative causation in the formation of a technological innovation system: the case of biofuels in the Netherlands. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 76(8), 1003-1020. DOI: 10.1016/j.techfore.2009.03.002 ↗
How to cite this page
ScholarGate. (2026, June 22). Functions of Innovation Systems Analysis (Event-History Approach). ScholarGate. https://scholargate.app/en/science-technology-studies/innovation-system-functions-analysis
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