Research, Technology and Innovation Policy Must Focus on the Generation of Critical Mass

Economic research emphasises the role of increasing returns to scale and critical mass in research and technology development. This suggests that countries benefit from specialising in certain technologies and can thereby bundle available resources. Using the example of the Exzellenzstrategie and the Zukunftsstrategie, we argue that German RTI policy lacks strategic prioritisation. The lack of focus implies that Germany spreads its resources too thinly over many technological alternatives and therefore fails to create critical mass within each of them. The guiding principles for a German RTI policy should focus on creating critical mass through specialisation..