8. Discussion
The complex social and systemic influences that drive innovation in any specific
region defy simple categorisation. In multi-regional comparisons the situation is
complicated further by the influence of national market conditions such as high levels
of GDP in Bavaria, and high rates of economic growth in the Republic of Ireland.
Also important are national and regional differences in institutional structures relating
to vocational training, technology transfer, venture capital etc. Despite this complexity
some clear commonalities and contrasts emerge between the study regions.
Perhaps reflecting the type of global trends in competition highlighted by Best (1991),
plants’ innovation objectives were very similar in each of the study regions. A general
trend was notable, however, towards more radical innovation, with plants increasingly
emphasising the development of new products rather than the improvement of their
existing product range. One more worrying element of plants’ innovation objectives
was that the development of environmentally friendly products was given a low and
diminishing priority. Businesses identified a number of factors that constrain their
ability to achieve these objectives. Risk, lack of finance, and limited market
opportunities were highlighted by plants in each area throughout the 1991-99 period
but marked contrasts exist in the changing importance of innovation constraints.
Plants in Bavaria highlighted very similar constraints throughout the period while
there was a sharp decline in the proportion of plants in Northern Ireland and the
Republic of Ireland reporting that their innovation activity was being constrained.
Contrasting macro-economic conditions in the study regions may be part of the
explanation along with attempts by government in Northern Ireland and the Republic
of Ireland to improve firms’ innovation capability and develop the institutional
support structure for innovation.
The next group of regional benchmarks relates to the scale and organisation of plants’
innovation resources. In terms of the scale of their R&D investments, for example,
firms in Bavaria have been consistently invested more than those in Northern Ireland
and Republic of Ireland. In addition, a larger proportion of plants in Bavaria undertake
R&D than in either Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland although there has
been some convergence since 1991. In terms of graduate employment, plants in
Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland had some advantage in 1991. By 1999,
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