The Oxford Handbook of Innovation

Abstract Innovation spans a number of fields within the social sciences and humanities: management, economics, geography, sociology, policy studies, psychology, and history. Consequently, the rapidly increasing body of literature on innovation is characterized by a multitude of perspectives based on, or cutting across, existing disciplines and specializations. Scholars of innovation can come from such diverse starting points that much of this literature can be missed, and so constructive dialogues missed. The contributors to this book are leading academic experts within their particular field. Each of the twenty-one articles focuses on a specific aspect of innovation. These have been organized into four main sections, the first of which looks at the creation of innovations, with particular focus on firms and networks. Section Two provides an account of the wider systematic setting influencing innovation and the role of institutions and organizations in this context. Section Three explores some of the diversity in the working of innovation over time and across different sectors of the economy. Section Four focuses on the consequences of innovation with respect to economic growth, international competitiveness, and employment.