The European paradox is the perceived failure of European countries to translate scientific advances into marketable innovations. The term was coined in a European Commission Green Paper in 1995. Recently, several articles questioned both the theoretical interpretation upon which the paradox conjecture is based and its empirical underpinnings.See for example Research Policy, Volume 35, Issue 10, December 2006, Pages 1450-1464.
Other countries The phenomenon of having a well-educated workforce with strong academia, while trailing in commercialization of technology is also frequently bemoaned in Australia. There the cause is frequently attributed to high taxation, low government industry support and general anti-intellectualism. A key difference is population size, as Australia is constrained by a very small domestic market, while Europe is not.
See also List of paradoxes
References "... Europe’s poor position is not a result of its performance in research or R&D. On this point, there is in fact a European paradox ..." (page 10) "... the efficiency of European R&D is 0.74, as against 1.6 for the USA and 1.32 for Japan. It is this which represents what I refer to as the ‘European paradox’."
External links The Extended European Paradox: What is it and why does it matter? Ulrich Hottelet: Making inventions pay, German Times, May 2007