Institutional Innovation And Technological Innovation

The great practice of advancing institutional reformation and scientific innovation in contemporary China makes it necessary to investigate the relationship between institutional innovation and scientific innovation.Marx, Neo-Institutional School, and Schunpeter have made great contributions as regards the concepts of institution, science & technology and innovation. Also, they have profound discussions about the implications, influences and status of institutional innovation and scientific innovation. At present, institutional innovation and scientific innovation are of unprecedented significance to China.Marx and Neo-Institutional School put a strong emphasis on the relationship between the institutional innovation and scientific innovation. Although Marx doesn't have an explicit concept of institutional innovation and scientific innovation, he solves the problem of the dialectic and inter-dependent relationship between institutional innovation and scientific innovation at a philosophical level through an analysis of the opposing yet unifying relationship between force of production and relations of production. In contrast, the Neo-Institutional School argues for the dynamic relationship between the two innovations on the basis of relative price, private profit rate and social profit rate, etc. Marx and the Neo-Institutional School have different visions and stances.Practice is the mode of human existence. The history of human society is also the history of human practices. All the phenomena in human society, including institution, science and technology, are the products of practices. Practice is the medium through which institution and science and technology influence each other.Institution makes use of its functions of constraining and stimulating to influence on practice, esp. production practice, and for that matter to influence and constrain scientific innovation. The institution of property rights embodies two basic functions of institution and it has great influence on scientific innovation. From modern times to contemporary era.In the development of contemporary society, esp., that of China, institutional innovation is more important that scientific innovation. Each and all scientific practices are constrained by institutions. Institutional innovation is essential to the prosperity of a country. In this respect, we have learned positive experience from reformation of China as well as negative lessons from the disintegration of USSR. The comparisons between the two inspire our thinking a lot. Scientific innovation is a double edged sword. To promote its positive effects and constrain its negative effects depends on institutional innovation.