The specific objectives of this study are to:
i) Assess the effectiveness of existing financial schemes and programs such as direct equity financing, tax incentives, loans, grants, and capital market financing. The research has been carried out by comparing these types of programs across Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Malaysia;
ii) Evaluate the institutional context underlying the successes and failures of these schemes such as laws and regulations, competencies of responsible organisations, entrepreneurship, societal acceptance to failures, trust between concerned actors and so forth;
iii) Develop policy recommendations for improving financial schemes for innovation and their institutional contexts based on the analysis and synthesis of success and failure practices.
The outline of the paper is as follows. Section 2 will discuss on methodology used in the research. Section 3 will provide an overview of innovation systems and financing innovation policies of the four countries. Section 4 will examine in detailed financing policy programs ranging from tax incentives, grants, loans, government direct equity financing, and, capital market financing. It will shed the light on similarities and differences of programs operated by these four countries. Section 5 will investigate institutional factors underlying these financing innovation policies. Section 6 will summarize main factors affecting effectiveness of financing innovation policies.