Abstract
Business activities in the 20th century are characterised by an increasing importance of knowledge, especially technical knowledge. The national competitiveness of countries to a large extent can be attributed to the rate of investments in knowledge development and innovation or more generally, the way in which they use the available stock of knowledge. Currently the performance of the Dutch innovation system is subject of much debate (OECD). However, a clear picture of how the development of the knowledge infrastructure and innovations in Dutch business are related is not yet available and calls for a closer look between the knowledge infrastructure and innovations in business. The aim of this research programme is, therefore, to develop a synthetic view on the co-evolution of the national knowledge infrastructure and the innovative performance of Dutch business in the 20th century.