Governing varieties of mission-oriented innovation policies: A new typology

Many governments in Europe and beyond have subscribed to mission-oriented innovation policies (MOIPs), aiming to steer innovation systems to directly address grand societal challenges. The emerging diversity of MOIPs, however, creates difficulties to define this approach and assess its effectiveness and efficiency. In this paper, we propose a new typology for MOIPs. It consists of four ideal types of missions and extends the established dichotomy of transformer and accelerator missions. The framework emphasizes the role of the state in MOIPs, drawing attention to the implementation process and governance requirements as key features of mission implementation. A first application across the diverse missions of the German Hightech Strategy 2025 demonstrates the analytical value of the framework and allows identifying type-specific challenges. In sum, the new typology and its operationalization improve the understanding of MOIPs and enhance the possibilities for systematic comparisons and impact assessments.