The Global Innovation System: A New Phase of Capitalism
Stuart S. Brown, David H. Levey

Abstract
This paper examines the emergence, structure, and consequences of a new phase of global capitalism, characterized by a developing Global Innovation System (GIS). While certain features of the GIS mirror preexisting national innovation systems, it transcends these roots. It integrates national innovation complexes to the point where a coherent global structure of innovation and an associated new international division of labor have evolved, even beyond today’s intricate global production chains. We describe the innovation clusters and knowledge pipelines that are increasingly knitting together this new global network. We show that key clusters in the United States still play a leading role and ask whether the new patterns of innovation can overcome the decline in advanced-country economic growth that has set in since the early 2000s.

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