Technological Innovation In Chile Where We Are and What Can be Done

The aim of this paper is to characterize the current Chilean scientific and technological status from an economic point of view. Given its present level of economic development, major weaknesses are observed in the National System of Innovation. Among them, scarce resources devoted to R&D expressed as a proportion of GDP, low participation of professionals and scientific workforce in research activities and negligible private involvement in financing these activities. We discuss the fundamental role of the public sector in the active promotion of these activities, especially at universities and private firms. In particular, we explore different economic policies aimed at enhancing the participation of the private sector in R&D activities. Revising the Chilean situation, we suggest that although many current programs aimed at supporting research activities are solving most of the typical market failures associated with R&D and innovation, we diagnose that there is a lack of coordination between allexisting initiatives. There is a systemic failure. Based on international experience, we suggest that by designing an explicit technology policy at the national level this failure could be solved. A technology board that gives directions, priorities, rules and performs periodic evaluations, may increase the economic efficiency of public resources devoted to these fundamental activities.

Technological Innovation in Chile: Where we are and what can be Done

The aim of this paper is to characterize and assess the current Chilean scientific and technological status from an economic perspective. The analysis reveals that, given the country’s present level of economic development, major weaknesses exist in the National System of Innovation. In particular, Chile devotes very scarce resources to R&D as a proportion of GDP, the participation of professionals and scientific workforce in research activities is poor, and private involvement in conducting or financing these activities is negligible. This latter aspect is of special interest, considering that the international evidence shows that in countries that have attained significant development advances, the private sector is actively involved in scientific and technological activities. The paper discusses some economic mechanisms that promote such involvement.

Technology and the Generation of International Knowledge Spillovers. An Application to Spanish Manufacturing Firms

Technology is among firms ownership advantages explaining their internationalisation as, now for decades, the eclectic approach has highlighted. The debate about the positive versus negative effects that foreign capital generates in the host economy has gained a new relevance today insofar as, on the one hand, the concept of systems of innovation allows us to rethink the interaction with the domestic/recipient economies and, on the other, the increasing internationalisation of the technological activities of multinational companies (MNCs) introduces new forms of that interaction. Therefore, the possibility of generation of external effects by MNCs today demands a new reformulation of the problem. In this vein, one of the strengthening aspects commonly underlined is that foreign knowledge, not completely appropriable by the foreign firms, may spill over into domestic firms. However, since the findings of the empirical evidence are not fully confirmatory of the hypothesis, and taking into account the new conditions, this essay attempts to offer new light with research about the Spanish manufacturing firms. Two main issues are focused on this analysis. First, the importance of dynamics in the assessment of technological spillovers motivated by foreign direct investment (FDI), which is possible thanks to the availability of a panel data for manufacturing firms in Spain in the period 1991-1999. Second, the importance that technology may have for the generation of spillovers and to what extent the Pavitt taxonomy of industries is still useful for in depth analysis of such a learning process.Foreign capital, Foreign direct investment,Spanish manufacturing firms, Knowledge Spillovers

The Long-Term Impact of Foreign Multinational Enterprises in Spain: New Insights into an Old Topic

The role of foreign capital and technology in the economic and social progress of late-developing countries remains a controversial issue in both academic and policy circles. In this essay, we examine the case of Spain in the light of the academic literature from the 1960s to the present. First, we identify and contextualize the intellectual concerns and controversies of two important generations of economists and historians and their approaches to the specific issue of multinational enterprises (MNEs). We then discuss what we consider to be the seven major contributions of recent Spanish scholarship in terms of: 1/ new quantitative evidence on FDI inward flows and firm demography analyses of foreign MNEs; 2/ new approaches to the transfer of technology by MNEs; 3/ collective and individual case studies of foreign MNEs, with a focus on their impact on local capabilities; 4/ identification of patterns of investment by MNE home countries; 5/ identification and study of the local actors of inward FDI; 6/ new perspectives gained from the history of international relations; and 7) new evidence on processes leading from inward FDI to outward FDI. We argue that the time is ripe for comprehensive re-assessments of the long-term impact of foreign MNEs and the role of Spain in the global economy

El papel del entorno en la localización de actividades de I+D en las filiales de multinacionales extranjeras

ResumenLa internacionalización de actividades de I+D en países extranjeros distintos del de origen de las multinacionales es una difícil decisión, y el entorno local es uno de los elementos fundamentales para su localización. A partir de un estudio de casos y tomando como referencia siete filiales con centros de investigación de excelencia en España, se concluye que los factores relacionados con la oferta tecnológica tienen mayor poder de atracción que los de demanda de mercado. Sin embargo, se constata que el entorno español resulta más atractivo por el lado de los factores de demanda que por el de oferta y, por lo tanto, se sitúa en una posición intermedia en la atracción de inversión directa en actividades de I+D en el exterior.AbstractThe internationalization of R&D activities in countries different from that of the multinational's origin is a difficult decision. The local environment plays an essential role in that sense. Using case study methodology and taking seven subsidiaries with excellent research centers in Spain as a reference, the results show that the aspects related to technology supply have more power of attraction than those related to market demand. However, the Spanish environment is more attractive on the side of demand factors than by the supply ones; therefore, it explains the position of Spain as an intermediate country in attracting direct foreign investment in R&D and innovation

The Long-Term Impact of Foreign Multinational Enterprises in Spain: New Insights into an Old Topic

The role of foreign capital and technology in the economic and social progress of late-developing countries remains a controversial issue in both academic and policy circles. In this essay, we examine the case of Spain in the light of the academic literature from the 1960s to the present. First, we identify and contextualize the intellectual concerns and controversies of two important generations of economists and historians and their approaches to the specific issue of multinational enterprises (MNEs). We then discuss what we consider to be the seven major contributions of recent Spanish scholarship in terms of: 1/ new quantitative evidence on FDI inward flows and firm demography analyses of foreign MNEs; 2/ new approaches to the transfer of technology by MNEs; 3/ collective and individual case studies of foreign MNEs, with a focus on their impact on local capabilities; 4/ identification of patterns of investment by MNE home countries; 5/ identification and study of the local actors of inward FDI; 6/ new perspectives gained from the history of international relations; and 7) new evidence on processes leading from inward FDI to outward FDI. We argue that the time is ripe for comprehensive re-assessments of the long-term impact of foreign MNEs and the role of Spain in the global economy

Industrial Policy in Guatemala: A Case of Policy Inertia under Changing Paradigms

This paper reviews productive development policies (PDPs) in Guatemala, focusing on the alleged justification of existing programs in terms of the market or government failures they are meant to address. An effort is made to identify how the different instruments complement or contradict each other and how these situations came to be. The main hypothesis throughout the paper is that there are non-trivial contradictions within the set of PDPs and its implementation framework that render policy instruments ineffective or inefficient, with evidence from several case studies. On this basis and in light of international practices, the study develops a broad set of recommendations for improving the design and implementation of Guatemala’s PDPs.Industrial Policy, Policymaking, Guatemala

Estudio exploratorio de la implementación del plan piloto de certificación de competencias laborales de la industria salmonera y sus desafíos en el desarrollo organizacional

Tesis (Magíster en Psicología Clínica)El crecimiento económico que ha experimentado nuestro país, en conjunto con estudios que determinan la necesidad de innovar para el crecimiento sostenido, generan un escenario problemático, al momento de dar cuenta que en nuestro país existe una brecha en torno a la Calificación del Capital humano y los requerimientos del sector productivo. Esta problemática anterior ha llevado a distintas disciplinas, en las cuales se incluye la Psicología Organizacional, a investigar acerca de las formas de generar y promover el desarrollo de Capital Humano. La presente investigación tiene como objetivo, hacer un recorrido por la problemática en Chile del Recurso Humano Calificado para la innovación tecnológica y el crecimiento económico. Basándose en el análisis de la Implementación de un Plan Piloto para la certificación de Competencias Laborales en la Industria Salmonera, y los desafíos que se generarían en esta para la elaboración de estrategias de Desarrollo organizacional

El “milagro” español y la IED norteamericana: una nueva interpretación

In the paper, we reconstructed the path followed in Spain by foreign economic players through the period 1936-1959. The former one was of Muñoz, Roldán and Serrano in 1978. Today are several other studies, because the topic is crucial for any country. We analyze the new legal “arrangement” and the final leadership of U.S. data shows good evidence and therefore a very good proof of the great impact of FDI in the Spanish economy during this period. We challenge the conventional wisdom on the scarcity of foreign investment in Spain between 1936 to 1959. That was so because two main reasons, the necessity and on the other, the network of investments before 1936 that made it possible.En el trabajo reconstruimos la trayectoria seguida en España por los agentes económicos extranjeros a lo largo del período 1936-1959. El primer estudio fue de Muñoz, Roldán y Serrano en 1978. En nuestros días hay más aportaciones, pues el tema es crucial para cualquier país. Analizamos los problemas con los nuevos "arreglos" legales y el liderazgo final de los Estados Unidos. Los datos de Estados Unidos muestran una buena evidencia y por tanto una muy buena prueba del gran impacto de la inversión directa extranjera en España durante este periodo. Por otro lado, cuestionamos la percepción convencional sobre la escasez de inversión extranjera en el país entre 1936 y 1959. Eso fue debido a dos aspectos claves, uno la necesidad y por el otro lado, la red de inversiones antes de 1936 que lo hicieron posible

La Globalización de la I+D: consecuencias para los sistemas nacionales de innovación

Una de las facetas destacables del paradigma de la innovación abierta es la mayor propensión de las empresas a trasladar a países extranjeros parte de sus actividades de I+D. Una vez delimitado el marco teórico, el propósito de este artículo es aclarar el impacto que la globalización de la I+D ejerce sobre los sistemas nacionales de innovación y las consecuencias que de ello se derivan para las políticas públicas. Diferenciamos distintos mecanismos de impacto, tanto directos como indirectos, y argumentamos que su signo y magnitud dependen de distintos factores tales como el tipo de actividades de I+D objeto de internacionalización, la capacidad de absorción de conocimiento del sistema nacional de innovación o el modo de entrada de la inversión. En cuanto a las políticas, ponemos de relieve la necesidad de una mayor coordinación entre las políticas de innovación y las políticas de promoción de inversiones y sugerimos otras recomendaciones para mejorar la eficiencia de la intervención pública. Finalmente, complementamos la discusión teórica con un comentario del caso de España