National innovation system capabilities among leader and follower countries: Widening gaps or global convergence?

The concept of technological catch-up, as it refers to a situation where some less developed countries have been able to catch up to the world leaders in terms of innovation, has inspired an abundant amount of scholarly attention. However, studies comprehensively focusing on factors considered important for innovation in the literature on national innovation systems (NISs) are rare. This gap is addressed here through a systematic analysis of the different dimension of NISs. Despite some positive signs, the global differences are growing i.e. the gaps between the best and the weakest performers are widening. Still, whereas on a global scale convergence is far from being the reality, the analysis was able to indicate a group of countries that have been able to catch-up to the “best in class” countries. Accordingly, there seems to be a clear association between NIS capabilities and the levels of economic development of countries.