Verslo inovacijų valstybinio finansavimo sistemos kaita Lietuvoje po nepriklausomybės atkūrimo ; Change of the state financing system of business innovations in lithuania after the restoration of independence

Abstract

The master thesis is titled: "Change of the State Financing System of Business Innovations in Lithuania After the Restoration of Independence". The main theoretical conception designed to analyse innovation policy is "National Systems of Innovation" (NSI). It is important to note, that NSI is not static and can change over time. After the restoration of independence, Lithuania experienced an economic transformation, and NSI, being a part of economic policy, also changed. State financing of business innovation is one of the most important elements which constitutes NSI and as a result, it also can be changed. Therefore, this master thesis is dedicated to analyse how the state financing system of business innovation developed after the restoration of independence and what are the main social elements responsible for it. To answer these questions, first of all changes in the state financing system of business innovation in Lithuania were analysed. Because the NSI is made up of institutions, the financing system of business innovation was defined from three perspectives: financing, organizations, and policy documents. Overall, it was found that this system evolved in two stages. First, there was no direct innovation policy and institutional environment to support business innovation. Second, government intervention to support business innovation increased dramatically, and currently this system of institutions is very broad and fragmented. To find out why it happened, the method of systematic process analysis was selected. Using this method, europeanisation theory was chosen as the main theoretical background for this master thesis, and three main hypotheses were developed. Besides europeanisation, two alternative theories were also chosen, which have the potential to explain changes in the system: left-right cleavage and the neoliberal institutional trajectory. In conclusion, it was found that Europeanisation had a major impact on the development of the state financing system of business innovation. First, the EU contributed to the changes related to the overall understanding about state role in business innovation financing. After Lithuania became an official candidate state to join the community, and after the accession to it, EU using its explicit, implicit and altering mechanisms totally transformed state role from being passive to being a significant actor in this field. In addition, EU also changed individual parts of financing system in the forms of absorption and transformation by influencing financing measures, organization structure, and policy documents. On the other hand, left – right cleavage and neoliberal institutional trajectories were rejected as both do not explain empirical facts. This master thesis contributed to the analysis of the Lithuanian system of innovation and it is also important for the use of europeanisation. This master thesis confirmed that europeanisation can explain public policy changes over time, however, there are still some theoretical discussions about this theory as it downgrades internal factors. Therefore, further research is needed to analyse how various internal groups inside the country can influence the changes of state financing of business innovation.