This thesis comparatively analyzed sectoral system of innovation in solar industry of Germany, the United States, Japan, and Korea with the theoretical background of Malerba's theory of sectoral systems of innovation. By reviewing the current status o...
This thesis comparatively analyzed sectoral system of innovation in solar industry of Germany, the United States, Japan, and Korea with the theoretical background of Malerba's theory of sectoral systems of innovation. By reviewing the current status of solar industry in those four countries, this paper pondered on whether solar industry development is caused by the level of science and technology development or other factors. Thus, it attempted to link the theories of national innovation system to sectoral systems of innovation in a theoretical basis. Furthermore, it analyzed four major factors including technology and knowledge regimes, demand and market regimes, actors and actors' role, and institutions. In addition, it developed for each factor more specific
factors such as 1) development of related industries and industrial dynamics, 2) the level of social consensus and the size of market, 3) the size of solar industry association and the ecosystem of the industry in each countries, 4) related law legislation and industrial support policies.
In order to clarify the impact of policy-oriented factors to
technological innovation in solar industry which was found in previous literature review, this paper analyzed quantitative trend of patent registration from 2002 to 2012. From this analysis, it was confirmed that FIT policy is superior to RPS policy to promote innovation in solar industry in the cases of Germany and Japan. By reviewing the four countries' solar industry in the theoretical framework of sectoral systems of innovation, this thesis contributed in finding key strengths and weaknesses of each country's sectoral systems as well as significant implications for Korea's solar industry.