Government programmes in financing innovations: Comparative innovation system cases of Malaysia and Thailand

This paper explores the main government programmes in financing innovations using comparative innovation system cases of Malaysia and Thailand, the emerging tigers of Asian economies. The study provides an empirical evidence of the innovation financing system based on the National Innovation System (NIS) concept. The main argument of the paper is that the role of the state (government’s role) is necessary to improve a country’s absorptive capacity in order to promote technology development. The results have shown the country-specific configuration of interacting institutions to promote industrial technological capabilities. Innovation policies need to be linked to the overarching economic goals and adequately supported by specific programmes to remedy market failures (underinvestment in research and development).