first draft of the report on the swiss “national innovation … · 2016-03-29 · first draft of...
TRANSCRIPT
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Socioeconomic Institute University of ZurichBlümlisalpstr. 10CH-8006 Zurich, Switzerland
Patrick Vock Tel: 41 1 634 39 45lic.oec.publ., DHEE Bruges Fax: 41 1 634 49 87
email: [email protected]://www.unizh.ch/sozoec/home/vock
11.6.98
First Draft of the Report on theSwiss “National Innovation System“
for the OECD NIS-Project
room document for OECD-TIP meeting on June, 18, 1998 in Paris
(preliminary draft, work in progress, please do not quote)
This paper is a first and very preliminary attempt to map the swiss innovation sy-stem according to the OECD guidelines of the project on ‘National Innovation Sy-stems (NIS)’. The basic focus is on the various actors which participate in a NIS.These organisations are described along the functions they perform. A next stepwill be to supplement the present description of the swiss NIS and to qualitativelyassess the interplay of the various organisations.
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1. Table of Contents
1. Table of Contents ................................................................................ 22. List of Boxes and Tables ..................................................................... 43. Introduction ......................................................................................... 54. Analysis with NIS-approach................................................................ 65. The Description of the Swiss Innovation System................................ 95.1 Introduction........................................................................................................ 95.2 Organisations which produce goods and services............................................ 105.2.1 Structure of swiss enterprise sector............................................................. 105.2.2 Swiss trade, incl. high technology products................................................ 145.2.3 Technology balance..................................................................................... 155.2.4 Successful industries according to Porter-studies ....................................... 155.3 Organisations which define general policy...................................................... 17
• Parliament 17• Federal Council 17• Departments of the Administration 17
5.4 Organisations which formulate and implement policies regarding technology, innova-tion, science and education ..............................................................................18
• Federal Office for Vocational Training and Technology (FOVTT) 18• Swiss Science Agency (SSA) 19• Federal Office for Education and Science (FOES) 19• Board of the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology (FIT) 19• Swiss Science Council (SSC) 20
5.5 Organisations which innovate.......................................................................... 205.5.1 Innovation as an encompassing phenomenon ............................................. 205.5.2 Innovating firms according to CIS-like survey........................................... 215.5.3 Technological specialisation and spillovers of swiss patent activity .......... 215.6 Organisations which perform R&D................................................................. 225.6.1 Overview ..................................................................................................... 225.6.2 Private Enterprises....................................................................................... 235.6.3 Higher education organisations................................................................... 265.6.3 a) Cantonal universities and federal institutes of technolögy ......................... 275.6.3 b) Federal research institutes .......................................................................... 285.6.4 R&D-Cooperations...................................................................................... 295.6.4 a) Results of innovation survey concerning R&D cooperation ...................... 295.6.4 a1) Propensity to cooperate .............................................................................. 305.6.4 a2) Forms of cooperation .................................................................................. 315.6.4 a3) Partners of cooperation ............................................................................... 315.6.4 a4) Goals of cooperation .................................................................................. 325.6.4 b) Swiss participation in the third EU-RTD-framework program .................. 325.6.4 c) Graph analysis of R&D networks .............................................................. 365.7 Organisations which finance R&D .................................................................. 365.7.1 Overview ..................................................................................................... 365.7.2 R&D Financing by the Federal State .......................................................... 36
• Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) 375.8 Organisations which promote technology diffusion........................................ 39
• Commission for Technology and Innovation (CTI) 395.9 Organisations which promote technical entrepreneurship............................... 40
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5.10 Organisations which facilitate and modulate research and innovation............ 405.10.1 Academies ................................................................................................... 405.10.2 Patent office................................................................................................. 405.11 Organisations which develop human resources............................................... 415.11.1 General overview over the swiss education system.................................... 415.11.2 Basic education............................................................................................ 425.11.2 a) Overview .................................................................................................... 425.11.2 b) Higher education sector .............................................................................. 425.11.3 Retraining.................................................................................................... 446. References ......................................................................................... 457. Appendix ........................................................................................... 45
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2. List of Boxes and TablesMain focus and elements of a NIS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7Number of firms 1995 (branches, firm size) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10Employees 1995 (branches, firm size) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12Share of value added and employment per branch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13Structure of swiss trade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14Swiss trade in high technology products 1997 (table) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15Swiss trade in high technology products 1997 (graph) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16Determinants of successful swiss industries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16Technological specialisation and spillovers of swiss patent activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21Personal input in research and development in Switzerland 1992 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23R&D expenditures of enterprises in Switzerland and swiss firms abroad 1992 . . . . . .24Intra- and Extramuros R&D expenditure of swiss enterprises 1992 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25Different Types of Intramuros Research of Swiss Enterprises 1992 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26R&D expenditures of universities and federal institutes of technology 1996 . . . . . . . .27R&D Expenditure and Personel of the Federal Research Institutes 1994 . . . . . . . . . . .28R&D expenditures of Federal Research Institutes according to reserach fields . . . . . .29Shares of innovative manufacturing firms with R&D cooperation 1993, 1996 . . . . . . .30Forms of R&D cooperation in manufacturing 1991-93 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31Partners of R&D cooperation in manufacturing 1994-96 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32Importance of different goals of R&D cooperation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32Swiss participation in EU-RTD-programs (III. framework program) . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33Number and type of partners in EU-RTD-framework-projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35Finance flows for research and development in Switzerland 1992 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36Research and development of Federal State 1994 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37Characterisation of federal R&D funding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38Basic education and retraining . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41Educational paths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43Structure of the Swiss Science Agency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46Matrix of organisations and their functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47
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3. Introduction
Innovations are at the very heart of economic dynamism and its subsequent struc-tural and societal change. The overall performance of an economy - and thus thewell-being of the people - is dependent on how well economic actors can copewith and adapt to this inherent drive. In todays period with fast technological ad-vance and other radical shifts there is a wide spread need to understand the drivingforce of innovation.
Innovations - broadly characterised as successful novelties - are a widespread phe-nomenon and collectively assessed they have far-reaching consequences. Becauseof this, innovation research in the last years has adopted a much more comprehen-sive view on innovations, now seen as the result of interactive knowledge basedprocesses. Accordingly, policy makers have to adapt their activities and decisions:
• to a new understanding of how innovations come about,• and to the growing interdependence of issues concerning science, technology,
education, and innovation.
During the last years, the analysis of National Innovation Systems (NIS) as a newline in innovation research has become more and more important and popular. TheOECD has managed to bring together leading experts in that field to undertake in-ternational coordinated and comparable investigations. In a first phase some pilotcountry studies employing the NIS approach were carried out. The second phase,which ends in June 1998 is engaged with more detailed analysis in focus groupsand with some key aspects regarding comparability. It is expected that OECDcoordinated NIS research will go on beyond June 98.
The present report is a first and provisional attempt to map the Swiss InnovationSystem according to the guideline of the NIS-research. It can be considered as afirst draft of a country report. Special emphasis is put on NIS organisations andtheir interactions, especially regarding knowledge.
The report starts with a very brief account of innovation research in the NIS fra-mework. The main part is filled with the description of the different organisationsand mechanisms influencing the performance of the swiss NIS. This part is orde-red according to the different functions of a NIS.
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4. Analysis with NIS-approach1
The research on innovation systems is based on the following considerations. Theunderlying motive is the question of how a competitive unit, usually the firm, cangain, retain or improve its competitveness in a changing world. Technologiesemerge and change constantly. This trend has become so vital for firms that theytake up innovations as part of their business strategy. Individuals are central sincethe generation, interpretation and transfer of knowledge constitutes the base forinnovations. Learning, awareness and competence building is influenced by thecomposition and structure of an organisation. Further, the incorporation of and ad-aptation to new technologies is strongly firm specific due to the firm’s knowledge,skill, technology and capital base.
Although the firm is the competitive unit (thus responsible for benefit, loss, andfactor incomes), firms usually do not innovate alone. Interactions aiming at know-ledge and technology transfer may include a number of actors with differentfunctions. Collaboration patterns vary according to industries. Thus, firms are em-bedded in an economic and social texture, interacting with and depending on otherorganisations, governed and restricted by different institutions (norms, traditions).Then, talking about systems of innovation means basically - and in the most ex-tensive way - that for analysis or interpretation one includes all important factors(economic, organisational, institutional, political, social, etc.) that influence thegeneration, development, diffusion and use of innovations. So, innovation sy-stems are surely more than just R&D.
The focus of innovation research along the NIS-line lies on the organisations andtheir interactions, especially regarding knowledge. The starting point of theOECD NIS analysis is the notion of the ‘distribution power’ of an innovation sy-stem. This is a concept expressing the easyness of diffusion of technologies, inno-vations and knowledge. Diffusion is based on the interaction of economic actors.That’s why, in a first step, organisations are taken as the fundamental element forstructuring a NIS.
In a NIS thousands of revelvant actors, i.e. organisations, exist with many diffe-rent functions. For an orderly description it is necessary to take together some ofthe organisations. According to the argumentation of the previous paragraphs a ra-dical characterisation of a NIS is presented in Box 1: Competitive enterprisesbuild the backbone of any NIS. For successful innovation and diffusion it is ne-cessary that a firm interacts with other firms or other organisation of the innova-tion system. Human resources build the base of the organisations for the
1. This section draws heavily on various contributions made within the OECD-NIS-project. For more extensive accounts see the different reports available from the NIS web site.
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generation, interpretation and transfer of knowledge. Organisations and individu-als are influenced in their behaviour by the macroeconomic environment, institu-tions and policies.
It is convenient to put forward a distinction which often causes troubles while dis-cussing innovation systems. It is the difference between organisations and institu-tions which is quite well described by Edquist: “... organizations are formalstructures with an explicit purpose and they are consciously created“ (Edquist1997:47). “Institutions are sets of common habits, routines, established practices,rules, or laws that regulate the relations and interactions between individuals andgroups“ (Edquist 1997:46). Organisations are the ‘players’ and institutions are the‘rules’.
Main focus and elements of a NIS Box 1
human resources
otherORGANISATIONS
human resources
FIRM
human resources
FIRM
Institutionsgeneral policies and
specific policies concerning:competition, technology, research, innovation, science, education
Macroeconomic environment
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Of course, this is a very simple and rough sketch of an innovation system, but atleast it is emphasising the focal points of analysis. It is clear that the various actorsin the innovation system have different functions and positions, and consequentlytheir weight and importance is different. OECD research has put forward someproposals of grouping or taking together the NIS-actors. These attempts so far arenot fully satisfactory since we do not have a full understanding of the relevant NISfunctions and their interplay. And further, one has to keep in mind the fact that theorganisations often perform several functions.
Since the interactions between the organisations are analysed in the context of dis-tribution power, knowledge flows are of central importance. Since knowledgecannot be measured directly, the OECD studies investigate diffusion mechanismswith the help of knowledge carriers which are:
• human embodied technology (people, human resource)• disembodied technology (documents, written information)• equipment or capital embodied technology (equipment, materials, products)
Thus, the different interactions shown in Box 1 can be examined along the diffe-rent types of knowledge carriers.
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5. The Description of the Swiss Innovation System
5.1 Introduction
As described in the previous chapter (see page 6) the first step in NIS-researchconsists of the mapping of the relevant organisations, their functions and their in-teractions. To do this, the following questions concerning each individual NIS-or-ganisation should be considered:
• What is the goal of the organisation? (commercial, public good)• What does the organisation use as inputs? absorbtive capacity with respect to
knowledge• What does the organisation do? Activities, throughput• How are the activites/is the organisation organised?• What mechanisms exist to reach decisions and coordinate activites?• What is the output of the organisation?• What is the knowledge base of the organisation? incl. human resources. Stock,
flow, transfer.• What is the technology base/are the technologies used?• Which interactions of the organisation with others exist? knowledge transfer
along the following knowledge carriers: human embodied knowlege, disem-bodied knowledge, capital embodied knowledge
• What ist the transfer capacity of the organisation? • What are the rules, institutions and data which influence the behaviour of the
organisation?
Unfortunately, the present report cannot take up all of these questions nor can ittake these questions to structure the mapping of the swiss innovation system. Asa pragmatic solution, the organisations of the swiss innovation system are descri-bed allong specific functions they perform. The distinction of these functions isbased on proposals in the course of OECD research2. Accordingly, the followingfunctions are distinguished:
Organisations which:
• produce goods and services• define general policy• formulate and implement policies regarding technology, innovation, science
and education• innovate• perform R&D• finance R&D
2. OECD guideline for institutional mapping and the norwegian paper concerning institutional mapping.
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• promote technology diffusion• promote technical entrepreneurship• facilitate and modulate research and innovation• develop human resources
An overview of the organisations and their functions can be found in the matrix inthe Appendix on page 45. In a next draft of this report it will be aimed for the com-bination and integration of the various questions and the different functions.
5.2 Organisations which produce goods and services
As a good start it is advisable to describe the structure and output of the swiss busi-ness sector because of the following reasons:
• according to the discussion in the previous chapter the competitive firm and its networks is the focus of analysis. Firms make up a central part of the eco-nomic and social system, as well as the innovation system.
• Innovations as a path dependent phenomenon are strongly rooted in the pro-duction structure of a certain locality or community. Furthermore, common production activites go hand in hand with a special kind of knowledge upgra-ding and diffusion, simply with learning and innovating on the job.
5.2.1 Structure of swiss enterprise sector
Simply looking at the numbers of firms reveals a few dominating characteristicsof the swiss economy (see Table 1). It shows what kind of players are involved inthe division of labour. Three quarter of all enterprises belong to the service sector.Most of the firms are small ones, even more distinct so in the service sector.
Number of firms 1995 (branches, firm size)a Table 1
Branches Number of companies (according to private law)
Total percentagesby firm size
0-9 10-49 50-249 250+
Total 288’170 87,9 10,1 1,7 0,3
Sector I ... ... ... ... ...
Sector II 74’460 78,3 17,3 3,8 0,6
- mining industry 364 56,3 38,2 5,5 0,0
- food, beverages 2’865 80,2 12,8 5,6 1,4
- textile, clothing 2’052 79,4 14,3 5,8 0,5
- leather, shoes 352 86,5 9,4 3,5 0,6
- wood 6’749 85,2 139 0,8 0,1
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a. adapted from: Eidgenössisches Volkswirtschaftsdepartement (Hrsg.). Die Volkswirtschaft. Das Maga-zin für Wirtschaftspolitik. 4/98. p. 36 (statistics)
- paper, publishing, printing 4’954 80,3 15,1 3,9 0,7
- mineral oil 19 57,9 15,8 26,3 0,0
- chemical industry 806 56,8 25,9 13,4 3,9
- rubber, synthetic material 822 59,6 27,7 11,5 1,2
- other non-mineral products 1’399 74,9 19,1 5,5 0,6
- metall 7’707 77,2 18,1 4,2 0,5
- machines 3’691 70,5 19,9 7,6 2,0
- electronics, optics 5’160 75,7 16,4 6,0 1,9
- vehicles 581 80,6 13,6 4,3 1,5
- other products 4’332 87,0 10,8 2,0 0,2
- energy, water supply 223 53,8 28,3 13,0 4,9
- construction 32’384 78,2 18,8 2,8 0,2
Sector III 213’710 91,2 7,6 1,0 0,2
- trade, repair 73’988 90,9 7,8 1,0 0,3
- catering 23’600 84,8 13,9 1,2 0,1
- transport, communication 10’255 85,9 11,5 2,3 0,3
- banks, insurances 3’502 81,7 12,1 3,9 2,3
- real estate, informatics 56’186 93,6 5,7 0,6 0,1
- public administration 160 - - - -
- education 4’171 90,4 9,0 1,5 0,1
- health, social services 20’382 93,0 5,2 1,6 0,2
- other services 21’466 95,5 4,1 0,4 0,0
Number of firms 1995 (branches, firm size)a Table 1
Branches Number of companies (according to private law)
Total percentagesby firm size
0-9 10-49 50-249 250+
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The importance of the swiss business sector for employment can be seen in Table2. Two third of the employees are engaged with the provision of services. Somebig companies can be found in the following branches: banks and insurances, che-mical industry, maschine production, electronics and optics.
Employees 1995 (branches, firm size)a Table 2
Branches Employees
Total percentages by firm size
0-9 10-49 50-249 250+
Total 3’539’067 30,2 24,0 20,4 25,4
Sector I 242’542 88,8 9,8 1,4 -
Sector II 1’112’159 18,7 26,2 27,6 27,5
- mining industry 6’104 16,0 53,7 30,3 0,0
- food, beverages 66’814 12,9 14,0 32,5 40,6
- textile, clothing 32,118 16,4 23,5 42,0 18,1
- leather, shoes 4’379 22,0 20,5 24,0 33,5
- wood 43,735 45,3 40,6 10,2 3,9
- paper, publishing, printing 78,472 19,5 24,4 30,5 25,6
- mineral oil 1’071 4,0 9,3 86,7 0,0
- chemical industry 66’207 3,0 8,9 20,0 68,1
- rubber, synthetic material 23’706 9,7 26.0 45,0 19,3
- other non-mineral products 21’734 15,7 29,0 36,8 18,5
- metall 107’474 19,6 28,9 31,8 19,7
- machines 112’345 8,2 16,3 29,2 46,3
- electronics, optics 134’910 9,7 14,9 25,8 49,6
- vehicles 14’196 13,8 15,6 22,3 48,3
- other products 33’700 28,8 31,6 25,9 13,7
- energy, water supply 25’666 3,5 13,8 27,7 55,0
- construction 339’458 27,3 38,0 25,6 9,1
Sector III 2’426’908 37,0 22,7 16,1 24,2
- trade, repair 612’275 36,1 21,1 13,9 28,9
- catering 229’440 43,6 31,4 13,7 11,3
- transport, communication 252’114 25,2 28,1 23,3 23,4
- banks, insurances 186’574 5,5 6,2 10,3 78,0
- real estate, informatics 324’208 49,4 25,2 16,5 8,9
- public administration 136’076 … … … …
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Looking at Table 3 reveals that two thirds of employment or value added belongsto services, and only a few percents are bound in the primary sector. From a pro-ductivity point of view, even at this aggregated level, chemistry, banks and ins-urances stand out positively. Considering employment and value added,agriculture, textiles and catering show more negative ratios.
a. adapted from: Eidgenössisches Volkswirtschaftsdepartement (Hrsg.). Die Volkswirtschaft. Das Maga-zin für Wirtschaftspolitik. 4/98. p. 36 (statistics)
- education 202’011 39,2 35,6 19,1 6,1
- health, social services 348’903 36,1 22,6 26,9 14,4
- other services 135’307 57,0 22,5 10,9 9,6
Share of value added and employment per brancha Table 3
employment value added
Sector I 3,9 2,8
agriculture, forestry 3,9 2,8
Sector II 29,7 31,1
energy, water supply, mining 1,5 2,8
processing industries 21,5 21,2
food, beverages 1,8 2,3
textiles, clothing 1,2 0,8
wood, paper, printing 3,8 3,3
leather, shoes, synthetic materials, rubber 0,7 0,7
chemical industry 1,9 3,1
metall 2,6 2,4
machines, vehicles 4,0 3,8
electronics, optics 3,1 3,3
watches, jewelry 0,9 1,1
construction 7,4 7,1
Sector III 66,5 66,1
trade, catering, repair 21,6 18,4
trade 14,0 13,5
catering 5,6 3,2
transport, communication 6,1 6,1
banks, insurances, real estate, consultancies 14,3 23,4
banks, insurances 5,4 11,3
public administration 4,4 12,0
Employees 1995 (branches, firm size)a Table 2
Branches Employees
Total percentages by firm size
0-9 10-49 50-249 250+
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5.2.2 Swiss trade, incl. high technology products
The swiss trade structure can be seen in Table 4. European partners, especiallyGermany are most important for swiss trade. Important products with trade surp-lus are: chemical products, maschines, instruments, watches.
a.adapted from: HotzHart, B, Mäder, S., Vock, P. (1996) Volkswirtschaft der Schweiz. VDF Zürich. p. 172. Figuresfor 1992.
countries:
groups:
goods:
use:
exports imports
GermanyFranceItalyGreat BritainUSAJapan
OECDEUEFTAdeveloping countries
agricultureclothingchemical productsmachinesvehiculesinstruments, watches
natural resources, intermediate goodsenergyinvestment goodsconsumer goods
23,4%9,2%7,5%6,6%9,1%3,9%
78,4%62,1%0,5%
17,6%
3,7%4,5%
24,5%27,3%1,8%
20,9%
32,3%0,1%
32,7%34,9%
32,8%11,0%9,9%6,6%6,2%3,4%
90,2%79,4%0,3%7,1%
9,0%9,0%
13,5%20,5%9,9%
11,1%
34,5%3,3%
24,1%38,1%
Percentages for 1994, relate to total exports or total imports.
Structure of swiss trade Box 2
source: adapted from ‘Die Volkswirtschaft’ 6/95
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Looking only at high technology trade Switzerland shows a trade deficit. Compu-ters and office machines is the product category which is most dependent on for-eign supplies. Interesting to note is the trade surplus with machines and scientificinstruments. (see Table 4 and Box 3)
5.2.3 Technology balance
Till now there are no official calculations of a technology balance based on theswiss balance of payments. But there are efforts to publish some data this yearconcerning at least the most important categories.
5.2.4 Successful industries according to Porter-studies
Alongside with the research which lead to Porters well known book ‘The Compe-titive Advantage of Nations’ some projects on the competitive advantage of swissindustries were conducted. The detailed studies of a range of internationally suc-cessful swiss industries are based on the Porter framework. The success of a nati-
a. in 1’000’000 SFr. Same product categories were used in the EU studies on trade in high-technology products. See for example: EU (1997/3) Statistik kurzgefasst, Aussenhandel. source of data: Eidge-nössische Zollverwaltung.
Swiss trade in high technology products 1997 (table)a Table 4
import export balance
aviation, space technology 2224 943 -1281
telecommunication 719 232 -487
computers, office machines 4999 1142 -3857
generel electronics 1570 1259 -311
comsumer electronics 994 314 -680
scientific instruments 604 1201 597
machines 418 2070 1652
nuclear energy 125 1 -124
chemical products 556 415 -141
weapons, munitions 31 78 47
total 12241 7656 -4585
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on’s firms in a given industry is largely determined by the following elements:factor conditions; demand conditions; related and supporting industries; firm stra-tegy, structure, and rivalry; government policies, chance events.
Determinants of successful swiss industriesa Table 5
Industry Factor conditions
Demand conditions
Related and Sup-porting Industries
Firm Stra-tegy, Structure, and Rivalry
Govern-ment poli-cies
Chance events
Dystuffs ++ + + ++ ++ ++
Pharmaceuticals ++ + + ++ + ++
Banking ++ ++ + + ++ ++
Freight Forwarding + ++ + ++ ++ +
Watches ++ ++ ++ +
C
A
D
E
B
FI
G HJ
G
D
F
C
A
IE B JH
Swiss trade in high technology products 1997 (graph) Box 3
exports imports
A = aviation, space technologyB = telecommunicationC = computers, office machinesD = generel electronicsE = comsumer electronics
F = scientific instrumentsG = machinesH = nuclear energyI = chemical productsJ = weapons, munitions
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5.3 Organisations which define general policy
The most important organisations defining the general policies are the Parliament,the Federal Council and its administration with the Departments.
Parliament
The Parliament as the legislative sets the framework for state activities with thedeclaration of laws. The constitution, the laws derived from it, and the parliamentitself are under direct or indirect control of the people. In the fields of education,science and research state activity is based on the laws concerning the Federal In-stitutes of Technology, support of cantonal universities, specialised colleges, vo-cational training, and research.
Federal Council
The Federal Council is the executive composed of seven members elected by theparliament. These ministers are heading the departments of the administration.
Departments of the Administration
The different departments are responsible for the implementation of state policies.They are also engaged in the preparation of laws. The following departmentsexist:
• Department of Foreign Affairs
a. + positive contribution, ++ strong positive contribution, - negative contribution. Source: Enright, M.J., Weder, R. (1995).
Textile Machinery ++ + ++ ++
Fire Detection Equip. ++ ++ + + +
Comfort Control + + +
Sugar Confectionery -- ++ + +
Determinants of successful swiss industriesa Table 5
Industry Factor conditions
Demand conditions
Related and Sup-porting Industries
Firm Stra-tegy, Structure, and Rivalry
Govern-ment poli-cies
Chance events
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• Department of Home Affairs• Department of Justice and Police• Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sports• Department of Finance• Department of National Economic Affairs• Department of Transport, Communications and Energy
More on specific organisations and their tasks can be found in the next paragraph.
5.4 Organisations which formulate and implement policies regarding tech-nology, innovation, science and education
The most important swiss organisations which formulate and implement policiesregarding technology, innovation, science and education are:
• the Federal Office for Vocational Training and Technology (FOVTT)• the Swiss Science Agency (SSA)• the Swiss Science Council (SSC)
Currently we experience a reform of government and its administration. In orderto promote greater transparency and efficiency, it has been decided, to concentrateresponsibility for formulating policies on education and training, research andtechnology in the two government Departments for Home Affairs and for Econo-mic Affairs. Coordination and implementation of a coherent policy on training inresearch and technology are the responsibility of the Swiss Science Agency (SSA)in the Federal Department of Home Affairs and the Federal Office for VocationalTraining and Technology (FOVVT) in the Federal Department for Economic Af-fairs. Any other federal offices involved or concerned may make their voicesheard within a “Steering Committee”.
Federal Office for Vocational Training and Technology (FOVTT)
The Federal Office for Vocational Training and Technology is part of the Depart-ment of National Economic Affairs. Together with the Swiss Science Agency(SSA) it coordinates and implements a coherent policy concerning education, trai-ning, research and technology. The FOVTT prepares decrees concerning vocatio-nal training and the specialised colleges. The whole sector of specialised collegesis currently being reformed. Furthermore, the office tries to encourage new tech-nological break-throughs in a number of ways, including programs to promote re-search and development, the transfer of technological knowledge fromuniversities to industry, and further education incentives. The office organizes andmoderates nationwide networks between companies and its associations, R&D la-
- 19 -
boratories, schools and universities and public authorities. Through the the activi-ties of the Commission of Technology and Innovation (CTI) the FOVTT promotesapplied research and technology.
Swiss Science Agency (SSA)
The Swiss Science Agency is part of the Department of Home Affairs and consists of the Federal Office for Education and Science and the Domain ot the Swiss Fe-deral Institutes of Technology (for an overview see graph in the appendix on page 46). Its mission is to implement policies concerning education and training in science and scientific research. Together with the Federal Office for Vocational Training and Technology (FOVTT) it coordinates and implements a coherent po-licy concerning education, training, research and technology. The strategies and actions are coordinated with other federal offices, the cantons (Conference of Cantonal Education Officers; University Conference), the private economic sec-tor, and international reserach organisations.
Federal Office for Education and Science (FOES)
The Federal Office for Education and Science belongs to the Swiss Science Agen-cy and is responsible for preparing and implementing laws on education, scienceand research. It subsidises the cantonal universities (basic and investment subsi-dies, as well as special credits) and research institutions (Swiss National ScienceFoundation, four Swiss Academies, and other public institutions). It also preparesand submits to the Federal Department of Home Affairs any decisions concerningthe granting of credits and subsidies, fundamental issues and legislation. Furhterit has administrative responsibility for the Research Framework Programme of theEuopean Union and for COST. It also ensuring Swiss participation in internationalresearch organisations.
Board of the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology (FIT)
The Board of the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology belongs to the Swiss Sci-ence Agency and is the highest authority for the two Federal Institutes of Techno-logy and the four Federal Research Institutes (together they make up the Domainof the Federal Institutes of Technology). The board decides on strategies and for-mulates general policy in the Domain of the Federal Institutes of Technology. It
- 20 -
defines the basic objectives of each institution and allocates the resources accor-dingly. It delegates operational management to the institutions and coordinatestheir activities. It approves their planning and monitors implementation of theplans through evaluations and periodical strategic checks. The institutes of the do-main engage in training in scientific and technical fields, do research and performscientific and technological services.
The two Federal Institutes of Technology (higher education institutes) and thefour Federal Research Institutes are the following:
• Swiss Federal Institute of Technology of Zurich (ETHZ)• Swiss Federal Institute of Technology of Lausanne (EPFL)• Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI)• Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL)• Swiss Federal Laboratory for Materials Testing and Research (EMPA)• Swiss Federal Institute for Water Resources and Water Pollution Control
(EAWAG)
Swiss Science Council (SSC)
The Swiss Science Council is an independent body advising the Federal Councilwith respect to all questions regarding science policy. The SSC is advising in thefollowing fields: swiss position in international science cooperation and competi-tiveness, federal goals (and their implementation) concerning scientific reserachand training, evaluation of science and technology policies.
5.5 Organisations which innovate
5.5.1 Innovation as an encompassing phenomenon
Innovations are a very complex phenomenon and most simply can be characteri-sed as ‘successful novelties’. This includes technical, social, organisational another innovations. It is clear that other organisations than firms innovate and theynot only bring about innovations which we usually would consider ‘traditional’ in-novations. From an organisational point of view for example, not only firms re-structure. Currently there are comprehensive reforms of the swiss administrationand of education organisations. Unfortunately, such organisations are not verywell covered.
- 21 -
5.5.2 Innovating firms according to CIS-like survey
According to the swiss innovation survey (Arvanitis et al 1995) conducted in 199382,8 % of all manufacturing firms said that they achieved some innovations duringthe last three years. Innovation behaviour differs from branch to branch. Aboveaverage innovations show the chemical industry, electrical engineering, machinesand textiles. Below average are industries producing paper, wood, furnitures aswell as printing.
5.5.3 Technological specialisation and spillovers of swiss patent activity
Patents can be used to secure benefits of innovative activities. Also, they are anindication of technological specialisation and show potential benefits from spill-overs. World patents have been analysed to detect Switzerlands technological spe-cialisation and its technological spillovers. Box 4 shows the pattern of technolo-gical specialisation and possible spillovers. The proximity of two technologyfields is based on the frequency of multi-classified patents and is an indication ofthe similarity of the fields and the possiblility of spillovers..
Technological specialisation and spillovers of swiss patent activity Box 4
tele-communications
semiconductors
informationtechnology
audiovisualtechnology
optics
nuclear technology
pharmaceutics
food chemistry
organicchemistry
biotechnology
food processing
environmentaltechnology
transport
engines
civil engineering
thermal
polymers
handling
electricalengineering
control
surface
materialsprocessing
chemicalengineering
basic materials chemistry
medicaltechnology
materials
consumer goodsspace technology
mechanical elements
machinetools
technology
very high above average average below average very low
technological specialisation:
adapted from: Schmoch et al. (1996) p. 132.
processes
technology
- 22 -
Following the 5 technology clusters the overall specialisation profile of swiss pa-tent activities locks as follows: The strongest and in the last years increasing per-formance shows the process technology cluster, followed by intensive activities inthe consumer goods cluster. World average activity can be found in the machineproduction cluster and in the chemical cluster. The instrument cluster shows be-low average activity, while the electrical engineering cluster performs very littlepatented innovation activities.
The map in Box 4 not only shows the strong or weak positions of the technologyfields, it further shows the potential and exploitation of spillovers since the arran-gement of the technology fields show their technological proximity. It is favoura-ble for the exploitation of spillovers when technological activities occur inclusters. The swiss technological activities are structured in such a way that spil-lovers and synergies can only partially be exploited. Positive in this respect is thedomain of machine production and to a lesser extent the chemical sector. A moreunfavourable situation can be found in the fields of electrical engineering and in-formation technologies. Especially in the field of process technology and the pro-duction of appliances the swiss industry masters the mechanical core technologiesbut not the transition to electronics. Furthermore the link to electrical engineeringand information technologies, i.e. the fields ‘surface technology’ and ‘optics’,shows a very low performance.
The confrontation of the structure of the swiss patent activities (map in Box 4)with the dependence of the individual technology fields on science shows thatSwitzerland is predominantly involveld in activities with low dependence on sci-ence. Of the science intensive fields Switzerland shows a strong position in che-mistry, but not in information technologies and microelectronics. Theseweaknesses can be worrisome since these fields have a high growth potential.
To sum up, the technological activities of Switzerland and its competitiveness arebased on traditional strengths, but may be less well suited for the challenge ofemerging technologies and growth potentials.
5.6 Organisations which perform R&D
5.6.1 Overview
In international comparison the swiss research system can be characterised as fol-lows:
• a high share of R&D expenditures is paid for by the industry.• non-university research organisations play a minor role.• within Switzerland swiss firms relatively seldom cooperate with higher educa-
tion organisations or non-university research organisations
- 23 -
• The intertwining of state and private research is not very much developed
Table 6 gives a first impression of the division of labour in swiss R&D, on the ba-sis of of persons engaged in R&D and their qualifications.
5.6.2 Private Enterprises
Private enterprises are the backbone of the swiss R&D infrastructure. Enterpriseswithin Switzerland spend around 7 billion swiss francs for R&D, most of it as in-tramuros R&D. Around 80 % of R&D is carried out by the traditional sectors ofchemistry, electrical engineering, machine building and metallurgy. Most im-portant type of R&D is experimental development, followed by applied research.Only little is done in basic sciences. The bulk of R&D is done by big enterprises,but SMEs are of special interest for science, innovation and technology policysince they provide jobs for the majority of employees. In addition to these activi-ties within Switzerland, swiss enterprises abroad spend another 7 billion swissfrancs for R&D (see Table 7, Table 8, Table 9).
a. in working years; source: translated from: Statistisches Jahrbuch der Schweiz 1997, BfS, Zürich: NZZ, p. 359.
b. including SBB, PTT, SNB, SUVA, SRG
Personal input in research and development in Switzerland 1992a Table 6
typ of education private enterpri-ses
universi-ties
federal stateb
total
university graduates 8600 7800 580 16980
specialised university graduates (htl/hwv) 6800 200 340 7340
technical and administrative specialised personal and other personal
18500 4650 840 23990
total 33900 12650 1760 48310
- 24 -
a. adapted from: Schweizerischer Handels- und Industrie-Verein (1994), (Hrg.). Forschung und Ent-wicklung in der schweizerischen Privatwirtschaft 1992. Zürich. p. 17.
R&D expenditures of enterprises in Switzerland and swiss firms abroad 1992a Table 7
R&D expendi-tures in Switzerland (Mio SFr)
R&D expendi-tures abroad (Mio SFr)
share of R&D expenditure abroad in Total (in %)
Maschines, Metallurgy 1316 378 22
Electrical engineering 1564 2914 65
Chemistry 2893 3140 52
Watches 94 1 1
Textile, Clothes 69 0 0
Food Stuff 306 413 57
Paper, Synthetic Materials 73 3 3
Construction 36 10 22
Technical Services 262 34 12
Research Institutes 395 200 34
Total 7008 7093 50
- 25 -
a. adapted from: Schweizerischer Handels- und Industrie-Verein (1994), (Hrg.). Forschung und Ent-wicklung in der schweizerischen Privatwirtschaft 1992. Zürich. p. 24, 26.
Intra- and Extramuros R&D expenditure of swiss enterprises 1992a Table 8
Intramuros R&D Expenditures in Mio. SFr.
Extramuros R&D Expenditures in Mio. SFr.
Maschines, Metallurgy 1203 113
Electrical engineering 1510 53
Chemistry 2516 377
Watches 86 9
Textile, Clothes 66 3
Food Stuff 293 12
Paper, Synthetic Materials 71 2
Construction 34 2
Technical Services 244 18
Research Institutes 346 49
Total 6370 638
- 26 -
5.6.3 Higher education organisations
According to OECD guidelines, the Swiss higher education sector (see alsopage 41) comprises the following organisations which all perform R&D but to adifferent degree:
• cantonal universities (8)• federal institutes of technology (2)• federal research institutes (4)• specialised colleges (55)
In 1996 the higher education sector spent 2430 Mio SFr. The shares of this amountwere as follows:
• 84% (2040 Mio SFr.): cantonal universities together with the federal institutes of technology
• 14%: federal research institutes• 2%: specialised colleges
a. adapted from: Schweizerischer Handels- und Industrie-Verein (1994), (Hrg.). Forschung und Ent-wicklung in der schweizerischen Privatwirtschaft 1992. Zürich. p. 24, 26.For absolute figures see table with intra- and extramuros expenditures.
Different Types of Intramuros Research of Swiss Enterprises 1992a Table 9
share of expe-rimental development (%)
share of app-lied research (%)
share of basic science (%)
Maschines, Metallurgy 51 47 2
Electrical engineering 75 21 4
Chemistry 47 37 16
Watches 80 19 1
Textile, Clothes 79 21 0
Food Stuff 68 30 2
Paper, Synthetic Materials 58 40 2
Construction 70 25 5
Technical Services 75 23 2
Research Institutes 47 31 22
Total 57 34 9
- 27 -
5.6.3 a) Cantonal universities and federal institutes of technolögy
As already mentioned, the cantonal universities together with the federal institutesof technology constitute the core of higher education R&D. The Federal Institueof Technology in Zurich (ETHZ) spends about a quarter of R&D means of theseorganisations. Another half of the R&D budget is distributed among the universi-ties in Zurich, Geneva, Bern and the Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne(EPFL). The remaining quarter goes to R&D at the universities of Basel, Freiburg,Lausanne, Neuenburg and St. Gall.
Looking at the field of R&D, 2/3 of it is spent for ‘hard’ sciences: 3/10 for exactand natural sciences, 2/10 for medicine and pharmacy and 14 % for engineering.Only 14% of R&D is spent for ‘soft’ sciences. Looking at the individual universi-ties or institutes of technology shows a very heterogenous picture. The higher edu-cation organisations with the smallest budget tend to invest most of their resourcesinto the ‘soft’ sciences. For more details see Table 10.
a. adapted from: BfS (1998) F&E an den Schweizer Hochschulen. Finanzen und Personal 1996. Bern. p. 29
R&D expenditures of universities and federal institutes of technology 1996a Table 10
humani-ties, social sciences
econo-mics
law exact, natural sciences
medi-cine, phar-macy
engi-neering
interdi-scipli-nary, others
suppor-ting ser-vices
Total
BA 12559 4376 2350 81164 31974 0 3395 34675 170493
BE 28114 5217 4540 74752 100640 0 3171 31453 247888
FR 19405 5441 5171 26990 4301 0 464 13721 75494
GE 36855 7266 6553 85974 86127 2065 9187 38118 272145
LA 18437 8118 5399 36629 40490 0 396 24656 134125
NE - - - - - - - - 46194
StG 35 28021 3256 0 0 0 3233 7921 42466
ZH 30787 9670 6060 57127 154333 0 840 49403 308220
EPFL 388 0 0 54140 0 98861 21 57552 210963
ETHZ 5607 4290 3386 200733 6232 189704 613 122627 533192
Total 157205 74268 37809 629193 424229 294544 21409 383472 2041179
- 28 -
5.6.3 b) Federal research institutes
The Domain of the Federal Institutes of Technology, which belongs to the SwissScience Agency, consists of the two Federal Institutes of Technology and the fol-lowing four Federal Research Institutes:
• Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI)• Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL)• Swiss Federal Laboratory for Materials Testing and Research (EMPA)• Swiss Federal Institute for Water Resources and Water Pollution Control
(EAWAG)
The tasks of the Federal Research Insititues are similar to what the Federal Insti-tutes of Technology do, but which are differently stressed: training, research, pro-motion of young academics, scientific and technical services. The four FedralResearch Insititues above all do applied research. There are strong relations bet-ween the research institutes and the institutes of technology: some employees ofthe research institutes do teaching at the institutes of technology, students of theinstitutes of technology do their practical work or own research at the research in-stitutes.
Three quarter of the funds for the Domain of the Federal Institutes of Technologygoes to the two Federal Institutes of Techology. The total expenditures of the fourFederal Research Institutes make up on quarter, more or less the same amountwhich is spent for the Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) (seeTable 11). The financial structure is more or less reflecting personal resources.Half of the funds and half of the personal is bound in the PSI, the biggest FederalResearch Institute.
a. adapted from: BfS (october 95). Forschung und Entwicklung an den Forschungsanstalten des ETH-Bereichs 1994. BfS aktuell. Bern. p. 10, 12. Expenditure in Mio SFr.
R&D Expenditure and Personel of the Federal Research Institutes 1994a Table 11
Total expenditures R&D expenditures R&D / total expendi-tures
R&D employees
EAWAG 39 33 85% 320
EMPA 129 16 12% 402
PSI 260 223 86% 1150
WSL 47 38 81% 285
Total 475 310 65% -
ETHZ 948 446 47% -
EPFL 457 206 45%
- 29 -
Looking at the share of expenditures which is used for R&D shows that the Feder-al Research Institutes are primarily concerned with R&D. There is one exception,the EMPA. The EMPA is a testing organisation and does little research, but pro-vides services.
The R&D expenditures of the Research Institutes are distributed as follows: morethan 2/5 for applied research, less than 2/5 for basic research, and 1/5 for experi-mental development. The Research Institutes show different priorities regardingthe type of R&D. The EAWAG spends 95%, the EMPA 87%, and the WSL 70%or their R&D funds for applied research. At the PSI 50% is used for basic research,and 25% for applied research and 25% for experimental development. EMPA andEAWAG do no basic research.
The Federal Council sets the priorities and goals for the federal science policy. Ac-cordingly, there are three priority fields: environment (protection of the environ-ment), human (socioeconomic and medical problems), technology (promotion oftechnoloical development). This is the base for the Board of the Federal Institutesof Technology which decides on the objectives and funds of the Federal ResearchInstitutes. In 1994 87% of the R&D expenditures of the Reserach Institutes werewithin these priority fields. Table 12 shows the use of R&D expenditures with re-spect to the content or R&D.
5.6.4 R&D-Cooperations
5.6.4 a) Results of innovation survey concerning R&D cooperation
The Swiss innovation survey (CIS like survey) is carried out every three years andyields some information about R&D cooperations. The following description ofthe results concerning R&D cooperation in manufacturing concentrates on the1996 analysis, since the 1996 and 1993 data show no major differencies. The ana-lysis of cooperation refers only to innovative firms. The share of innovative firms(process, product) within the whole sample (non-innovative, innovative) was 82,8
a. Figures for 1994. For each organisation: 1.column: in Mio SFr, 2. column: percentage. adapted from: BfS (october 95). Forschung und Entwicklung an den Forschungsanstalten des ETH-Bereichs 1994. BfS aktuell. Bern. p. 11
R&D expenditures of Federal Research Institutes according to reserach fieldsa Table 12
EAWAG EMPA PSI WSL total
environment 31 94% 3 20% 56 25% 27 71% 117 38%
human 2 6% 0,4 3% 33 15% - - 35 11%
technology - - 12 74% 94 42% 11 29% 117 38%
others - - 0,4 3% 40 18% - - 40 13%
total 33 100% 16 100% 223 100% 38 100% 310 100%
- 30 -
% in 1993. Very innovative branches are: chemistry, electrical engineering, ma-chines, textile. Less innovative are the branches: Mining, paper, wood/furniture,printing/graphical industry.
5.6.4 a1) Propensity to cooperate
Table 13 shows the percentage of innovative firms which in one or another waycooperated. Branches like electrical engineering, electronics, chemistry, vehicles,machines, textiles and paper show an above average propensity to cooperate. Onthe contrary, branches like graphical industry, clothing, and wood show less thanaverage propensity to cooperate. Further, these branches proved to be less thanaverage innovative.
a. adapted from Table 8.1a in Lenz (1997).
Shares of innovative manufacturing firms with R&D cooperation 1993, 1996a Table 13
1994-96 1991-93
Foodstuff 31,6 % 28,3 %
Textile 58,2 % 44,2 %
Clothing 26,6 % 21,3 %
Wood 28,3 % 21,3 %
Paper 56,1 % 44,3 %
Graphical industry 14,1 % 20,1 %
Chemistry 72,6 % 68,3 %
Synthetic materials 34,7 % 40,5 %
Mining industry 40,2 % 42,1 %
Metal industry 48,7 % 46,5 %
Metal products 38,0 % 33,0 %
Machines 60,6 % 55,4 %
Electronics, instruments 80,6 % 64,1 %
Electrical engineering 73,3 % 75,6 %
Watches 36,7 % 44,7 %
Vehicles 67,3 % 51,0 %
Remaining industries 33,5 % 36,9 %
Manufacturing (total) 50,8 % 46,8%
- 31 -
5.6.4 a2) Forms of cooperation
Table 14 shows the frequency of different forms of cooperation. Of the two clas-sical contractual forms of cooperation, R&D agreements are more frequent thanjoint ventures. Every second firm with cooperation is engaged in informal infor-mation exchange, which often is additional to more binding forms of cooperation.
5.6.4 a3) Partners of cooperation
For analytical reasons (e.g. different competitive environments) partners can bedivided into two groups: firms (4 categories) and institutions (3 categories). Co-operations between firms can be either vertical (customers, suppliers), horizontal(competitors), lateral (firms of other branches), or within a comglomerate. Table15 shows the distribution of cooperation partners. Not surprisingly, swiss firmscooperate more often with swiss partners than with the same partners abroad (withone exception: firms of the same conglomerate). Vertical cooperations and coope-rations with higher education institutes are most frequent. Above average innova-
a. adapted from Arvanitis et al. (1995) p. 168
Forms of R&D cooperation in manufacturing 1991-93a Table 14
Joint venture 12,7 %
R&D agreement 42,3 %
Technology transfer agreement 33,0 %
Informal information exchange concerning technology 51,0 %
Minority participation in innovative firms 9,6 %
Contracting out of R&D mandates to other firms/institutions 37,5 %
Enterprises with cooperation 43,4 %
- 32 -
tive industries like chemistry, machines, electrical engineering, electronics andsynthetic materials show manifold relations to different partners, they are embed-ded in networks of cooperating partners.
5.6.4 a4) Goals of cooperation
Table 16 shows the importance of different goals for cooperation. Most importantfor cooperation is the broadening of the knowledge base of a firm and the bringingtogether of supplementary knowledge.
5.6.4 b) Swiss participation in the third EU-RTD-framework program
Following the EU impact studies concerning RTD policies, Switzerland imple-mented a similar analysis of swiss participation in the III. EU-RTD-frameworkprogram (see Balthasar et al., 1997). Between May 1991 und February 1997 thefederal state (Federal Office of Education and Science) has spent 135 Mio. SFr for523 swiss participations. This amount is very little with respect to overall R&D
a. adapted from tables 8.2 and 8.3 in Lenz (1997).
a. The percentage shows the share of cooperative firms which rated a specific goal with 4 or 5 (on a five point scale), thus signifying an above average importance. Adapted from table 8.5 in Lenz (1997).
Partners of R&D cooperation in manufacturing 1994-96a Table 15
CH abroad
Customers 51,7 % 43,7 %
Suppliers 59,0 % 43,8 %
Firms of the same branch (competitors) 28,5 % 17,9 %
Firms of other branches (excl. customers, suppliers) 27,8 % 21,4 %
Firms of the same conglomerate 33,0 % 34,1 %
Universities, technical colleges 52,6 % 26,5 %
Other private or (semi-) public research institutions 24,9 % 11,4 %
Technology transfer agencies 29,2 % 7,8 %
Importance of different goals of R&D cooperationa Table 16
1996
Reduction of technological risks of R&D 29,9 %
Reduction of own R&D costs 41,8 %
Shortening of R&D time 54,5 %
Opening up of new markets by gaining access to specialised technology 44,4 %
Bringing together of supplementary know how 70,3 %
Broadening of know how base of the firm 70,5 %
- 33 -
expenditures, but quite considerable with respect to what is spent for technologypolicy. And further it is a measure to encourage and promote the participation ininternational research networks.
Swiss participations shows a pattern with high concentration, even when compa-red to other highly industrialised EU-nations. Higher education organistions coun-ted for 2/3 of all participations comprising 58% of the swiss contribution. Industryshows low participation with 14% of all parcipations and 25% of financial contri-butions. SMEs are marginal. Only six organisations make up 35% of the swisscontribution (two institutes at the ETHZ and the EPFL, CSEM, Ascom). A fewbig projects were supported: 10% of the participations made up 60% of funds.Looking at the specific programs, most funds were spent for ESPRIT, followed byRACE, BRITE/EURATOM, HCM and Environment. These five programs tookup 3/4 of funds and 65% of participations. Most important was the first action line,
a. adapted from Balthasar et al (1997) p. 31b. in Mio ECUc. in Mio SFr. Total incluedes about 6 Mio SFr for paricipations outside the framework program.
Swiss participation in EU-RTD-programs (III. framework program)a Table 17
priority fieds
action line program acronym EU-contri-butionb
Swiss contri-butionc
basic tech-nologies
1. information- and communica-tion technology
2. industrial and materials techno-logymeasurement and testing
information technologiescommunications technologiesdevelopment of telematic systemsindustrial and materials techno-logies
measurement
ESPRITRACETELEMA-TICSBRITE/EURATOM
1352+180489+65380+50
748+100
140+19
39,728,36,0
16,0
1,5
use of natural resources
3. environment
4. bioscience and -technologies5. energy
environmentoceanography and marin tech-nologiesbiotechnologiesagricultural researchBiomedical research and healthbio science and tehcnologies for developing countriesnon-nuclear energynuclear fission safetycontrolled nuclear fusion
EnvironmentMAST
BiotechAIRBiomedSTD-3
JOULEFision
414+55104+14
164+22333+44133+18111+15
157+60199+29458+110
8,10,5
4,95,12,21,2
4,12,0
use of intellec-tual resources
6. human beings and human mobi-lity
human beings and human mobi-lity
HCM 518+69 9,5
Total 5700+850 135
- 34 -
the promotion of information- and communications technologies. The promotionof human capital and mobility also shows a high participation, but consumed notmuch of the funds.
To explain the high concentration the following arguments are put forward:
• swiss participants - only envolved since 1992 - had to catch up with learning• weakness in the cooperation between science and industry• cautious swiss technology policy in the past• reservedness of the chemical and pharmaceutical industry concerning national
and european technology policy programs. The impact of this is quite big since this industry makes up 40% of R&D expenditures of swiss firms.
Asked about their motives to participate, the following arguments were heardmost often:
• additional financial funds for R&D projects• necessary completion of swiss R&D programs• existing swiss programs do not fit to the goals of the participants
The lack of appropriate national programs was criticized mostly by big firms.Most important are the programs concerning information and communicationstechnologies.
Looking at the benefit and effect of swiss participation in EU-RTD-programs thefollowing main observations were made:
• increase of scientific performance• Intensification and deepening of existing R&D cooperation as well as the
establishment of new R&D cooperations• establishment of new research fields, improvement of research and technology
position• high economic benefit through development of marketable products and ser-
vices as well as the integration of project results. This economic benefit is valued higher by swiss participant than comparable evaluations in other coun-tries.
- 35 -
Some interesting results were obtain by looking at the general network structureof an EU-project. Table 18 shows the number of partners of the research networks(rounded mean). On average, there are 10 partners. Only engineering offices areusually involved in much smaller networks with about 4 partners.
The average network is characterised by the following tendencies:
• firms cooperate with firms• universities cooperate with universities• non-university R&D organisations cooperate with non-university R&D orga-
nisations
But big firms show a quite balanced network with almost equal participation ofenterprises and universities. SMEs tend to cooperate with fewer universites, espe-cially foreign universities, than big firms. Higher education organisations showlittle cooperation with the business sector. The federal institutes of technology getmore involved with european businesses than the cantonal universities.
The analysis of the relationship of the businesses with their cooperation partnersyields the following results:
• most often there is no market relationship
a. because of rounded figures rows may not add up to the total. adapted from: Balthasar et al. (1997) p. 117.
Number and type of partners in EU-RTD-framework-projectsa Table 18
Type Total num-ber of part-ners
firms universities R&D organisati-ons
CH EU/oth.
CH EU/oth CH EU/oth.
big companies 12 1 6 1 6 0 1
producing SMEs 11 0 6 0 4 0 1
cantonal universities and spe-cialised colleges
11 0 1 0 7 0 2
federal institutes of techno-logy
9 0 2 1 5 0 1
federal research institutes 9 0 1 1 4 1 3
engineering offices 4 0 3 1 2 0 2
federal and cantonaloffices 10 1 2 1 5 0 6
others 10 0 2 0 3 1 5
total 10 0 2 1 5 0 2
- 36 -
• big firms rather cooperate with a direct competitor• producing SMEs rather cooperate with customers and suppliers
5.6.4 c) Graph analysis of R&D networks
Within one of the focus groups of the OECD NIS project, data for R&D networks(Cordis, Eureka) is analysed with graph theory and on a comparable basis. Firstresults are expected in the second half of 1998.
5.7 Organisations which finance R&D
5.7.1 Overview
Table 19 describes the financial flows for R&D within Switzerland and shows twofundamental features:
• the bulk of R&D is done and financed by private enterprises (R&D expendi-tures of swiss firms are not considered, see Table 7)
• the federal state and the cantons predominantly provide R&D finances for higher education organisations
5.7.2 R&D Financing by the Federal State
Box 5 shows direct and indirect R&D financing of the federal state. Only a hand-full of federal offices within the departments of the administration finance R&D.The granting of subsidies is most important, followed by contracted research. The-re is some own research.
a. in Millions of Swiss francs; source: translated from: Statistisches Jahrbuch der Schweiz 1997, BfS, Zürich: NZZ, p. 357.The table shows only the finance flows within Switzerland (total of 9090)! Not included are the expenses of the swiss private enterprises abroad of 7090 and the expenses of international organisati-ons, institutions abroad, international projects and programs of 560.
Finance flows for research and development in Switzerland 1992a Table 19
EXECUTION
private enterprises 6370
higher edu-cation 2270
federal state 340
private non profit orga-nisations 110
abroad, internatio-nal organi-sations 560
private enterprises 6420 6080 40 0 10 290
federal state 2010 110 1240 340 50 270
cantons 840 0 840 0 0 0
private non profit organisations 130 10 70 0 50 0
higher education 80 0 80 0 0 0
abroad 170 170 0 0 0 0
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Box 6 characterises the federal R&D funding along two lines: free or directed re-search, program or not-program bound. Currently, the optimal distribution of R&D
funds according to these two criteria is under discussion.
Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF)
The Swiss National Sience Foundation (SNSF) is a private foundation entrustedwith the promotion of basic non-commercial scientific research at Swiss universi-tites and other scientific organisations. Besides the general research funding and
Federal state(without SNSF)
Federal
support of cantonaluniversities
FIT research institutes
highereducationsector
federal offices
private enterprises
pirvate non profit organsations
International projects and programms
880 (42%)
330 (16%)
480 (23%)
130 (6%)
270 (13%)
270 (13%)
150 (7%)
100 (5%)
250 (12%)
1320 (63%)
SwissNationalScienceFoundation(SNSF)
Institutesof Technology(FIT)
270(intramuros)
150
60
250
150290
480
130
270
directfinancing
indirectfinancing
implementation
40
Research and development of Federal State 1994 Box 5
adapted from: Bundesamt für Statistik (1995). Forschung und Entwicklung: Die Aufwendungen des Bundes.Finanzen und Personal 1994. BfS:Bern. p. 14.
in Million Swiss Francs
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the support of young scientists and researchers the SNSF is responsible for the Na-tional Research Programs (NRP) and for four of the federal goverment’s SwissPriority Programs (SPP).
So far 44 National Research Programs (NRP) have been launched of which 32 arealready completed. The research in these programs is thematic, includes basic andapplied research, last about 5 years and costs between 10 to 15 million SwissFrancs). The Swiss Priority Programs (SPP) are designed to fill the gap in techno-logical key areas. Some SPPs are managed by the SNSF, others by the FIT.
Characterisation of federal R&D funding Box 6
academies
federalinstitutes oftechnology
SNSFtechnicalcolleges
CTI
EU programs
NRP
SPP
EUREKA
COST
other int.
CIM/Microswiss
programs
federalresearchinstitutes
intern.orang.
20 36
240
480270
155180
intramuros
45
55
25
60
17
10
15
4
no federal objective(free research)
federal objective(directed research)
federal R&Dplus mandates
470
institutionaccording toresearch law
6
adopted from: Vision 3/97. p. 53in Million Swiss Francs, 1994
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The SNSF supports research through grants to established or promising resear-chers. The SNSF does not maintain its own research institutes. It is financed bythe federal state (see Federal Office of Education and Science).
5.8 Organisations which promote technology diffusion
Commission for Technology and Innovation (CTI)
The Commission for Technology and Innovation ist the key instrument of techno-loy policy and in promoting technology transfers. The CTI focuses on SMEs andis chaired by the head of the FOVTT. It encourages and funds joint projects ofenterprises, R&D and higher educational institutions. It supports some 500 rese-arch projects with a total of about 100 Million swiss francs per year, of which thegovernment provides about 40%. Furthermore the CTI finances EUREKA pro-jects. Swiss firms, two third of them SMEs, engaged in 164 projects (out of morethan 1100).
There is a wide range of other organisations which is involved in technology trans-fer. Some of them are directly linked to higher education organisations or techni-cal colleges, others are associated with certain federal diffusion programs, andagain others are more connected to cantonal trade promotion bodies. The follo-wing list is by no means exhaustive.
Associated to the universities or the federal institutes of technology are the follo-wing: ETH-Transfer (Federal Instiute of Technology, Zurich), Polygon (science,technology, economy, Fribourg), CAST (Centre d’appui scientifique et technolo-gique, Lausanne), Promogap (Association de promotion du groupe de physiqueappliquée, Geneva), WTT (Knowledge and technology transfer, Basel).
Other institutes: AFIF (study group for industrial research, Zurich), PSI (federalresearch institute, Villigen), CSEM (Centre suisse d’électronique e de microtech-nique, Neuchâtel), Institute of Microtechnique (Neuchâtel), EMPA (federal rese-arch institute, Dübendorf), FITT (promotion of technology transfer, Winterthur).
Connected to technical colleges are: Study and Transfer Center (Olten), INTEC(Institute for technoly transfer, Bern), FITT (R&D institution for technologytransfer, Brugg-Windisch), NTB (Buchs), ISG (engineering school, St. Gall).
Competence Centres associated with CIM or Microswiss action program: CIMcenters : CAG, CBZS, CIMCBT, CIMCCSO, CIMREZ, CIMSI, CVO, CZM;MZNS, NZMZ, MZNO, CMSO.
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Other organisations: Centredoc (Neuchâtel), Citi (Centro interfaccia technologieinnovative dell’Associazione industrie ticinese, Lugano), cantonal trade promoti-on (Lausanne), Biotectra (Basel), Betech (Bern), IBS (Solothurn), TVS (Weinfel-den), OPI (Geneva), Juratex (Delémont), RET (La Chaux-de-Fonds). There areseveral technoparks, for example in Yverdons, Zurich, Visp, Sion, Lausanne,Thurgau, and Bern.
5.9 Organisations which promote technical entrepreneurship
The venture capital scene in Switzerland is relatively young and far from suf-ficient. Organisations for financing and consultancy are quite heterogenous withdifferent affiliations (to higher education sector, banks, industry, cantonal promo-tion centers, federal programs) and include the following (again this list is not ex-haustive):
Swiss Venture Capital Screening Board (Federal Institute of Technology, Univer-sity of St. Gall), Swiss Venture Capital Center (Basel), SECA (Swiss PrivateEquity & Corporate Finance Association), New Medical Technologies (SBV, Me-dical Science Partners, Boston), Private Equity Holding (Vontobel), NovartisFund, MiniCap, Capital proximité Vaud, Valinvest, Venture Capital Fund Mittel-land (cantons Bern, Fribourg, Jura, Solothurn), Fondation Start PME (Geneva), fi-nance center (Zürcher Kantonalbank), Innoventure (Credit Swiss),Eidgenössische Bank (UBS), KTI-Start-up! (Commision for Technology and In-novation), Capital Management SA (Zug), CAP CREARGIE (Neuchâtel).
5.10 Organisations which facilitate and modulate research and innovation
5.10.1 Academies
There are the following four academies in Switzerland, which are recognsied bythe swiss confedration as institutions for the promotion of science and research:
• Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences• Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences• Swiss Academy of Humanities and Social Sciences• Swiss Academy of Sciences
Activities inclued communication, information exchange, coordination, support,assistance, dissemination of research results, etc.
5.10.2 Patent office
The patent office supports innovation and research by granting patents.
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5.11 Organisations which develop human resources
5.11.1 General overview over the swiss education system
A first distinction has to be made between the basic education and the retraining.The basic education as shown in Box 7 comprises the organised and highly for-malised part of the swiss education system. Contrary to retraining basic educationincludes several subjects and lasts more than one year.
higher education(ISCED 5,6,7)
secondary II education(ISCED 3)
compulsory education(ISCED 1,2)
kindergarden(ISCED 0)
Basic education and retraining Box 7
intended learning not-intended learning
basic education retraining
source: adapted from BfS (1995). Weiterbildung in der Schweiz. p. 14
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5.11.2 Basic education
5.11.2 a) Overview
The basic education has the following levels (see Box 7):
• compulsory education• secondary II level education. Students can choose between a general oriented
education or a more business oriented education. The latter is a combination of general education and vocational training in firms.
• tertiary level education. General oriented studies are absolved at higher educa-tion organisations such as cantonal universities or the Federal Institutes of Technology. More business oriented education involves specialised colleges and higher vocational/technical schools.
The graph in Box 8 shows two things:
• the educational qualification of the swiss population (see the percentages in the graph), and
• some typical paths of education
The four typical educational path are as follows:
• early exit out of the education system (without further degrees of post com-pulsory education)
• qualified professional beginning (with vocational training degree on secon-dary II level)
• qualified professional carrier (higher vocational training degree)• academic education (higher education degree)
5.11.2 b) Higher education sector
Education in the higher education sector is performed by the following organisa-tions:
Federal Institutes of Technology:
• Swiss Federal Institute of Technology of Zurich (ETHZ)• Swiss Federal Institute of Technology of Lausanne (EPFL)
Cantonal universities:
• University of Basel• University of Bern• University of Freiburg• University of Geneva• University of Lausanne
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• University of Neuenburg• University of St. Gall• University of italian Switzerland• University of Zurich
Specialized colleges:
Educational paths Box 8
vocational training degree on secondary II level
higher education degree higher vocational traning degreeafter general degree
on secondary II level (9%)after general degree
on secondary II level (8%)
withouf any further degrees of basic education (43%)
source: adapted from: BfS (1995). Weiterbildung in der Schweiz. p. 60percentages relate to the swiss population of age 20 to 74.
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Switzerland has several dozens of specialized colleges, some very different ofothers. They engage in the following fields: engineering, administration and com-merce, tourism, health care, social sciences, media, communications, information,arts and design. The orientation of these colleges is more practical than theoreti-cal, i.e. more technical than adacemical. Several institutes do applied research co-financed by the CTI. Most of the colleges would be categorized as universities (orpolytechnics) in other countries. The non-university higher education sector iscurrently being reformed. In order to work towards international recognition mostot the insitutions will be modified and reclassified as ‘polytechnics’.
5.11.3 Retraining
The swiss market for retraining is not very regulated. In 1995/6 37% of the adultpopulation engaged in retraining of any kind. Only looking at business orientedretraining 1/4 of the adult population took courses for retraining. Firms selectivelyinvest in their human capital: already good and highly qualified employees arepromoted. Employees in big enterprises and in the service sector have good chan-ces to get some support from the firm for the retraining.
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6. ReferencesArvanitis, S. et al. (1995). Innovationsaktivitäten in der Schweizer Industrie. Eine Analyse der
Ergebnisse der Innovationserhebung 1993. Strukturberichterstattung. Studienreihe, her-ausgegeben vom Bundesamt für Konjunkturfragen. Zürich.
Balthasar, A. et al. (1997). Evaluation der schweizerischen Beteiligung an den FTE-Rahmen-programmen der Europäischen Union. Studie für das Bundesamt für Bildung und Wissen-schaft (BBW). VDF.
Edquist, C. (1997) (ed.) Systems of Innovation. Technologies, Institutions and Organizations.Pinter London
Eidgenössisches Volkswirtschaftsdepartement (Hrsg.). Die Volkswirtschaft. Das Magazin fürWirtschaftspolitik. Bern
Enright,, M.J., Weder, R. (1995) Studies in Swiss Competitive Advantage. Lang Bern
EU (1997/3) Statistik kurzgefasst, Aussenhandel
Hotz-Hart, B, Mäder, S., Vock, P. (1996) Volkswirtschaft der Schweiz. VDF Zürich.
Lenz, S. (1997). Vorläufige Ergebnisse zum Innovationstest 1996: Teil Kooperation (Industrie).Unpublished paper. Federal Institute of Technology. Zurich.
7. Appendix
The first graph shows an overview over the Swiss Science Agency.
The following matrix shows the function(s) (row) performed by each organisation(column) within the NIS:
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Structure of the Swiss Science Agency Box 9
source: SSA homepage: http://www.admin.ch/gwf
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