This article presents an approach to measuring social innovation. Indicators emerge from: (1) the development of a theoretically grounded measurement model, (2) a systematic review of 30 established measurement approaches. The article serves three purposes: First, it develops the conceptual understanding for social innovation. Second, through operationalization it strengthens the link between theory and empirical phenomena. Third, it paves ground for national or regional measurement of social innovation and is thus, relevant to policy making.

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This article deals with the policy discourse on social innovation at the European Union (EU) level as well as across nine European countries. We perform an exploratory analysis of relevant policy documents focusing on articulated policy authority, suggested actors, and key outcomes of social innovation. We also conduct an explanatory testing of the applicability of the varieties of capitalism as a traditional innovation classification system to social innovation. We find that the policy discourse across Europe lacks systemization and that EU agendas are only incompletely replicated at the individual country level. We also find that social innovation policies largely defy the principles governing traditional innovation policy regimes, which necessitates new or revised classification frames.