Considering the way in which plants’ perceptions of innovation constraints have
changed through time suggests a much more dynamic picture in Northern Ireland and
the Republic of Ireland than in Bavaria (Figure 4). In Bavaria, the percentage of
manufacturing plants regarding each innovation constraint as either ‘important’ or
‘very important’ has remained broadly similar suggesting stability in both the quality
of plants’ internal resource base and the support offered by the institutions of the local
RIS. In the Republic of Ireland and more notably in Northern Ireland, however, the
percentage of plants highlighting each innovation constraint has declined rapidly since
the early-1990s. For example, in 1993, 41-42 per cent of plants in Northern Ireland
and the Republic of Ireland highlighted the riskiness of innovation as an important
constraint, a level higher than that in Bavaria. By 1999, the proportion of plants in
Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland citing the riskiness of innovation as an
important constraint had fallen to 21-22 per cent, a level below that of Bavaria.
Similar trends were also evident in terms of the lack of finance, lack of information,
and lack of partners.
Again two explanations are possible. First, if the innovation intentions of plants in
Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland had declined this might have meant
barriers to innovation were less important. This is unlikely, however, as Figure 2
suggests the stability of plants’ innovation objectives in each of study regions.
Perhaps more likely is that the reduction in the barriers to innovation in Northern
Ireland and the Republic of Ireland reflects policies in both regions to improve the
innovation capability of firms and strengthen the RIS through the provision of grant
assistance for innovation, improvements in the availability of information and help for
potential innovators to find commercial or research partners. In Northern Ireland, for
example, grant-based measures such as Compete, which primarily supports near-
market R&D by manufacturing businesses, have worked to reduce the riskiness and
increase the potential returns from innovation (Roper, 1998). Measures designed to
stimulate innovative partnerships are better developed in Republic of Ireland with the
Projects in Advanced Technologies (PATs) encouraging university-industry co-
operation in R&D and the National Linkages Programme (Tomaney, 1995) designed
to improve co-operation along the supply chain. Supplementing both measures - and
also covering Bavaria, of course, are related EU initiatives such as the network of
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