European paradox

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The European paradox is the perceived failure of European countries to translate scientific advances into marketable innovations. [1] [2] The term was coined in a European Commission Green Paper in 1995. [3] Recently, several articles questioned both the theoretical interpretation upon which the paradox conjecture is based and its empirical underpinnings. [4]

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The phenomenon of having a well-educated workforce with strong academia, while trailing in commercialization of technology is also frequently bemoaned in Australia. There the cause is frequently attributed to high taxation, low government industry support and general anti-intellectualism. A key difference is population size, as Australia is constrained by a very small domestic market, while Europe is not.

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References

  1. Maassen, Peter A. M.; Olsen, Johan P. (14 May 2007). University dynamics and European integration. Springer. p. 174. ISBN   978-1-4020-5970-4 . Retrieved 26 March 2010. ... the research policy paradigm was already well embedded in a competitiveness/innovation oriented understanding and an understanding of the so-called European paradox, that is, the conjecture that EU member states play a leading global role in terms of top-level scientific output, but lag behind in the ability of converting this strength into wealth-generating innovations.
  2. Andreasen, Lars Erik (1995). Europe's next step: organisational innovation, competition and employment. Routledge. ISBN   978-0-7146-4630-5 . Retrieved 2 April 2010.
    "... Europe’s poor position is not a result of its performance in research or R&D. On this point, there is in fact a European paradox ..." (page 10)
    "... the efficiency of European R&D is 0.74, as against 1.6 for the USA and 1.32 for Japan. It is this which represents what I refer to as the ‘European paradox’."
  3. "Green paper on innovation" (PDF). Retrieved 2011-05-01.
  4. See for example Giovanni Dosi, Patrick Llerana and Mauro Sylos Labini Dosi, Giovanni; Llerena, Patrick; Labini, Mauro Sylos (2006). "The relationships between science, technologies and their industrial exploitation: An illustration through the myths and realities of the so-called 'European Paradox'". Research Policy. 35 (10): 1450–1464. doi:10.1016/j.respol.2006.09.012. Research Policy, Volume 35, Issue 10, December 2006, Pages 1450-1464.