Innovation Agencies: The Road Ahead

Abstract

Many Latin American countries have been aware of their stagnating rates of productivity. Most of the large countries in the region do have a national innovation agency whose goal it is to promote innovation, knowledge, and productivity growth. Several of the agencies even date back to the 1960s. The puzzle is that, in spite of the presence of these agencies, countries in the region continue to fall behind their global competitors in terms of investment, productivity, and innovation. Why is this the case? What do we know about how effective innovation agencies in other parts of the world work? How are the Latin American innovation agencies like or unlike their peers in more innovative economies? These are all questions that have not been systematically researched. To date, there is no broad comparative study of the regional IAs that compares LAC IAs to each other or to the group of globally prominent and IAs, which have effected transformation in their own economies. What follows is a general framework for documenting and comparing the goals, characteristics, and outcomes associated with existing agencies in Latin America and in wealthier countries where IAs have performed well.