Public-sector research in small countries: does size matter?

Abstract

This paper explores challenges and difficulties faced by small countries in developing their public research systems (PRS). It compares Hungary (population around 10 million), Iceland (population around 300,000) and Ireland (population around 3.5 million) to identify national approaches to policy-making. These countries share other characteristics: their location on the European Rim and their level of economic development. The key findings indicate that the PRS in these three countries seem to be very similar and there is no qualitative difference between them. The main challenges of these small countries are remarkably similar to those of larger countries in Europe, but because of the limited resources, the intensity of the challenges seems to be greater in the smaller countries and their public research systems require more precise policy instruments than in large countries. In that respect size does matter.

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