Why should governments of developing countries invest in R&D and innovation?

The rationales for public investment in R&D and innovation have evolved over time from an initial emphasis on market failures amongst neoclassical economists towards a broader view based on a systemic characterization of innovation amongst evolutionary economists. More recently, a renewed emphas...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Guimón de Ros, José, Agapitova, Natalia
Format: article
Publication Date:2013
Country:España
Institution:Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
Repository:Biblos-e Archivo. Repositorio Institucional de la UAM
Language:English
OAI Identifier:oai:repositorio.uam.es:10486/663149
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10486/663149
https://dx.doi.org/10.5897/AJBM11.1163
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Absorptive capacity
Innovation
Knowledge
Market failures
R&D
Spillovers
Systemic failures
Technology
Economía
Description
Summary:The rationales for public investment in R&D and innovation have evolved over time from an initial emphasis on market failures amongst neoclassical economists towards a broader view based on a systemic characterization of innovation amongst evolutionary economists. More recently, a renewed emphasis has been placed on the critical role of innovation to address social challenges and overcome development traps. The purpose of this article is to summarize the different rationales for public investments in R&D and innovation in developing countries, with the aim of providing clear arguments to better advocate for the continuation and expansion of such investments in front of an audience that has to prioritize among multiple competing development agendas in the context of financing constraints, including budget allocators, high-level policymakers and the civil society at large