O que significa a federalização da ciência e tecnologia na Argentina?

En la última década, la federalización de la ciencia y la tecnología (CyT) se ha establecido como idea fuerza en Argentina, tanto en la agenda como en el discurso de políticas para el área. Sin embargo, el concepto mismo de federalización resulta un tanto difuso y en ocasiones se ha utilizado de forma ambigua. A partir de una revisión de estudios académicos previos, documentos institucionales y expresiones de diferentes actores del sistema, este trabajo se propone ordenar las ideas que se manejan respecto de este tema, principalmente aquéllas surgidas de debates ocurridos durante la última década. En este contexto se distinguen dos concepciones diferentes: desconcentración y descentralización. Esta distinción puede resultar de utilidad a la hora de definir y clarificar líneas de acción para establecer políticas CyT integradas de alcance nacional, regional y provincial.In the last decade, the federalization of science and technology (S&T) has established itself as a key force in Argentina, both in the agenda and the policy discourses for the area. However, the concept of federalization is, to a certain extent, vague and has sometimes been used ambiguously. Based on a review of previous academic studies, institutional documents and expressions of different actors, this article aims at organizing the most common ideas on this topic, especially those that arose out of debates during the last decade. In this context, two different approaches are distinguished: deconcentration and decentralization. This distinction can be useful when defining and clarifying lines of action to establish integrated S&T policies at a national, regional and provincial level.Na última década, a federalização da ciência e tecnologia (C&T) estabeleceu-se como uma forte idéia na Argentina, tanto na agenda quanto no discursos políticos da área. No entanto, o próprio conceito de federalização é um tanto vago e às vezes tem sido usado de forma ambígua. Com base em uma revisão de estudos acadêmicos anteriores, documentos institucionais e expressões de diferentes atores do sistema, este trabalho tem como objetivo ordenar as idéias que são tratadas com relação a esse tópico, principalmente aquelas que surgem de debates que ocorreram durante a última década. Nesse contexto, distinguem-se duas concepções diferentes: desconcentração e descentralização. Essa distinção pode ser útil ao definir e esclarecer linhas de ação para estabelecer políticas integradas de C&T de âmbito nacional, regional e provincial.Cátedra Libre Ciencia, Política y Socieda

A first exploratory analysis of the regional economic impact of COVID-19 in Argentina

In this article, we present a first exploratory analysis of the regional economic impact that COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown measures adopted in Argentina could have had during the last weeks of March and the month of April, the period of greatest economic impact, when restrictions were mainly raised at the sectoral level, without taking into account any regional criteria. To this end, we built an index of territorial economic impact by COVID-19 (ITEI-COVID), which takes into account, on the one hand, the regional production structure in terms of formal private employment, and on the other hand, the operational level of each sector. Results show that the regional impact of COVID-19 on private economic activity in Argentina was highly heterogeneous and that these unequal effects were largely related to the degree of productive diversity or the type of regional specialization. All these results are relatively stable and robust when comparing different geographical units of analysis, when changing the period chosen to define the private production structure, or when considering the informality and self-employment in addition to formal salaried employment.Fil: Niembro, Andrés. Universidad Nacional de Río Negro. Centro Interdisciplinario de Estudios sobre Territorio, Economía y Sociedad; Argentina.Fil: Calá, Carla Daniela. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Sociales; Argentina

How to measure the territorial economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in contexts with scarce regional data? A methodological proposal and application for Argentina (April-September 2020)

In this paper we propose an index to measure the territorial economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in contexts with scarce or outdated regional data, which is often the case in developing countries. This index is based on data that are usually available in most countries: a) the sectoral productive structure of the regions, b) the operational level of each sector, c) the mobility of workers in each region, and d) the possibility of remote work among sectors. The empirical application for Argentina describes the territorial economic impact during the second and third quarters of 2020, both for the provinces and labor market areas. Our results show that the regional impact of COVID-19 on private economic activity was highly heterogeneous and, in some cases, dissociated from the regional health impact. The proposed index is also highly correlated with sporadic official data coming from national agencies, while it has a wider geographical and temporal scope.Fil: Niembro, Andrés. Universidad Nacional de Río Negro. Centro Interdisciplinario de Estudios sobre Territorio, Economía y Sociedad; Argentina.Fil: Calá, Carla Daniela. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Sociales; Argentina

Towards a first typology of regional innovation systems in Argentina

Versiones previas de este trabajo fueron presentadas en la VI Conferencia Anual de la Sociedad Argentina de Economía Regional (sección argentina de la RSAI), realizada en San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina, como así también en la XXI Reunión Anual de la Red PyMEs MERCOSUR, en Tandil, Argentina (donde se obtuvo una mención del jurado). Otra versión resultó premiada en la quinta edición (año 2016) del Premio Anual de Investigación Económica, organizado por la Fundación Banco Municipal de Rosario y la Escuela de Economía de la Universidad Nacional de Rosario, Argentina.Los trabajos que han analizado las desigualdades socio-económicas entre las provincias argentinas no suelen tener en cuenta las diferencias provinciales en materia de conocimiento, innovación y aprendizaje. En paralelo, buena parte de la literatura sobre sistemas regionales de innovación se ha abocado a la construcción de tipologías empíricas que permitan abordar dichas diferencias, pero hasta ahora no se han aplicado ejercicios de esta naturaleza al caso argentino. Por medio de una combinación de técnicas multivariantes (análisis de componentes principales y análisis clúster) apuntamos a brindar un primer aporte en estos nichos de investigación.The studies that have analyzed the socioeconomic inequalities between Argentinean provinces do not usually take into account provincial differences in terms of knowledge, innovation and learning. In parallel, much of the literature about regional innovation systems has focused on the construction of empirical typologies that allow to account for these differences, but exercises of this nature have not been applied in Argentina until now. Through a combination of multivariate techniques (principal component analysis and cluster analysis) we aim to provide a first contribution in these research gaps

O que significa a federalização da ciência e tecnologia na Argentina?

In the last decade, the federalization of science and technology (S&T) has established itself as a key force in Argentina, both in the agenda and the policy discourses for the area. However, the concept of federalization is, to a certain extent, vague and has sometimes been used ambiguously. Based on a review of previous academic studies, institutional documents and expressions of different actors, this article aims at organizing the most common ideas on this topic, especially those that arose out of  debates during the last decade. In this context, two different approaches are distinguished: deconcentration and decentralization. This distinction can be useful when defining and clarifying lines of action to establish integrated S&T policies at a national, regional and provincial level.En la última década, la federalización de la ciencia y la tecnología (CyT) se ha establecido como idea fuerza en Argentina, tanto en la agenda como en el discurso de políticas para el área. Sin embargo, el concepto mismo de federalización resulta un tanto difuso y en ocasiones se ha utilizado de forma ambigua. A partir de una revisión de estudios académicos previos, documentos institucionales y expresiones de diferentes actores del sistema, este trabajo se propone ordenar las ideas que se manejan respecto de este tema, principalmente aquéllas surgidas de debates ocurridos durante la última década. En este contexto se distinguen dos concepciones diferentes: desconcentración y descentralización. Esta distinción puede resultar de utilidad a la hora de definir y clarificar líneas de acción para establecer políticas CyT integradas de alcance nacional, regional y provincial.Na última década, a federalização da ciência e tecnologia (C&T) estabeleceu-se como uma forte idéia na Argentina, tanto na agenda quanto no discursos políticos da área. No entanto, o próprio conceito de federalização é um tanto vago e às vezes tem sido usado de forma ambígua. Com base em uma revisão de estudos acadêmicos anteriores, documentos institucionais e expressões de diferentes atores do sistema, este trabalho tem como objetivo ordenar as idéias que são tratadas com relação a esse tópico, principalmente aquelas que surgem de debates que ocorreram durante a última década. Nesse contexto, distinguem-se duas concepções diferentes: desconcentração e descentralização. Essa distinção pode ser útil ao definir e esclarecer linhas de ação para estabelecer políticas integradas de C&T de âmbito nacional, regional e provincial

La Heterogeneidad de los Servicios Intensivos en Conocimiento: El Caso de Argentina

El presente artículo busca contribuir al debate acerca de la heterogeneidad entre los servicios intensivos en conocimiento (SIC), sobre la base de una fuente de información novedosa que nos permite no sólo estudiar las características de los SIC a un mayor nivel de desagregación que el utilizado comúnmente en la literatura internacional, sino también analizar estas actividades en el marco de un país en desarrollo como la Argentina. Mediante una combinación de técnicas de análisis multivariado obtenemos una tipología empírica que nos brinda una visión más clara sobre los puntos en común y las diferencias entre los distintos tipos de SIC identificados. Esta contribución no sólo es útil para el mejor análisis de estos sectores, que han ganado fuerte peso en la economía global, sino también para los tomadores de decisión, ya que son muchos los países que están implementando políticas de desarrollo productivo dirigidas a los SIC

El desarrollo (pendiente) de Bariloche: reflexiones a cien años de la comisión de estudios hidrológicos

Los desiguales impactos y la falta de armonía del desarrollo de San Carlos de Bariloche han ido gestando un “paisaje urbano” donde conviven, por una parte, la imagen de postal de aldea turística en las cercanías del Lago Nahuel Huapi, junto con barriadas pobres hacia el sur y sureste de la ciudad. A cien años del inicio de actividades de la Comisión de Estudios Hidrológicos (CEH), en el presente trabajo repasamos el devenir de algunos períodos constitutivos de la historia de Bariloche, como así también del accionar y los proyectos de desarrollo integral de la CEH. A partir de esta perspectiva histórica, analizamos luego los efectos económicos y socio-territoriales de la actividad turística (consolidada en eje central de la economía local) y finalmente exponemos algunas recomendaciones para la generación de una (en principio, no del todo nueva) estrategia de desarrollo local

Vínculos entre los sistemas regionales de innovación y el desarrollo económico provincial en Argentina: análisis exploratorio del periodo 2003-2013

El enfoque de sistemas regionales de innovación (SRI) reconoce el papel del conocimiento, la innovación y el aprendizaje como determinantes del desarrollo económico, pero los estudios empíricos no suelen analizar concretamente estas relaciones y menos aún en el caso de Argentina, donde existen diferentes limitaciones en cuanto a la disponibilidad de indicadores a nivel territorial. Por ello, en este trabajo realizamos el esfuerzo de construir una base de datos para el periodo 2003-2013 que nos permite: por un lado, actualizar y/o aproximar el PBG per cápita (proxy tradicional del nivel de desarrollo económico) de todas las provincias; y por otro, dar cuenta desde un abordaje amplio de la realidad de los SRI en el país, a partir de la elaboración del Índice Provincial de Sistema de Innovación (IPSI) y diferentes subíndices. El estudio exploratorio de los vínculos entre ambas dimensiones parece avalar la existencia de una relación positiva entre el desempeño de los distintos SRI, tanto desde el ángulo del IPSI como de sus subdimensiones, y el grado de desarrollo económico provincial. Asimismo, desde una mirada territorial sobresale la condición rezagada del Norte argentino, a diferencia de las posiciones más favorables de gran parte de las provincias centrales y patagónicas. Este diagnóstico podría abrir nuevos debates acerca de los problemas y las necesidades específicas de políticas públicas de los diferentes SRI en el país, de cara a la promoción de un desarrollo económico territorialmente más equitativo.Fil: Niembro, Andrés Alberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Sur; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Río Negro; Argentin

Regional and provincial gaps of educational development in Argentina: Disparities increased in last decade (2000-2009)

El presente trabajo parte del problema de las desigualdades territoriales del desarrollo argentino y busca aportar una nueva forma de dimensionar las brechas regionales y provinciales en materia de resultados educativos. La aplicación de la metodología propuesta nos arroja un balance preocupante para los años 2000. Luego de una década atravesada por el crecimiento económico y la recomposición de los indicadores sociales post-crisis de 2001-2002, las disparidades territoriales en el campo de la educación, lejos de achicarse, parecen haberse ampliado, lo cual sugiere que las mejoras no se habrían distribuido de forma equitativa a lo largo del territorio.The problem of regional inequalities in development is a topic of interest both internationally and specifi cally in Argentina. This research seeks to contribute to the extensive debate on the issue by providing a new way to measure and quantify the sub-national gaps of Argentine development in the fi eld of education. This objective is based on the implementation of a (relatively simple and hence improvable) methodology for the production and aggregation of educational performance indicators at regional and provincial levels. In line with the literature, we have considered measurements of coverage (enrollment) and quality and achievement aspects of the education system. As usual in this type of exercises, the greater restriction when choosing the variables to be used is given by the problems of availability of information. Certain indicators that exist at the national level are not always available under a provincial categorization or for different moments in time. Regarding this last point, given that information about the different variables is not always available for the same years, we opted to take the data around certain periods: fi rst, around 1999-2001 (or more compactly, circa 2000) and, secondly, in the 2009-2010 biennium (or circa 2009). At the same time, taking into account the absence of updated information about net enrollment rates at the provincial level, we decided to use gross enrollment rates and over-age rates as alternative and complementary measures to give an approximate idea of that dimension (later, we will return on this point). As for the nature of the indicators used, our intention has been to prioritize the use of outcome variables (results) over those which refer to inputs of the education fi eld (expenditure, teachers, etc.). This does not mean that we ignore the information that accounts for the resources allocated to the area (a section of the article is dedicated to the topic), but we prefer to focus the diagnosis of educational development according to its purposes and not necessarily to its means, i.e. the inputs applied to achieve those. Regarding the method of calculation of development gaps, the procedure proposed consists of three stages. Thus, to achieve the regional/provincial gap in the fi eld of education, we fi rst obtained particular gaps for each indicator and then, through standardization and aggregation processes, a synthetic measure is fi nally derived1. In the fi rst step we obtain the distance between the indicator for each region/province and its value at the national level. This procedure yields an identifi cation of those jurisdictions that are in a better or worse position relative to the whole country. It should be noted that the notion of positive or negative gap should be adjusted according to the nature of the variable in question. For example, if we are considering the illiteracy or over-age rates, a provincial value lower than the national one should be computed as a positive gap (the province is better than the country’s aggregate), so it is necessary to invert the sign of the difference between both measures. The opposite occurs for gross enrollment rates or educational quality indicators, where a positive difference between the provincial and national value actually corresponds to a positive gap of the province. The second stage consists in standardizing the gaps obtained after the fi rst step, since they respond to heterogeneous units. In this way, we seek to reach a standardized measure which can then be added into a compound (or synthetic) gap. Here the process follows this calculation, Standardized GAPi = [(GAPi – Average GAP) / GAP SD] . 10 That is, to the initial regional/provincial gap we subtract the average of the gaps obtained in the fi rst stage and the result is divided by the standard deviation of the original gaps. Then, it is multiplied by ten, solely for a better visual presentation. Finally, the third step involves the aggregation of the standardized gaps of each indicator in a synthetic gap of educational development. As we do not have data about net enrollment rates for both periods of time, but gross enrollment rates and over-age rates are available, the fi rst thing we do is to combine (average) the standardized gaps of the latter variables and then we average the results with the normalized gaps of the other education indicators (note that this is equivalent to applying a weighting of 0.10 to the gaps of gross enrollment and over-age, while the others will be assigned a weight of 0.20). In this way, we can say that we have something like two gaps of “net” enrollment rate (one for each level of education), since the respective gross enrollment values are being netted, to some extent, according to the problem of over-age2. Going to the results, the application of the proposed methodology shows us a striking and worrying situation for the 2000s, which adds a new dimension to the historical expansion of socioeconomic inequalities and internal inequities in Argentine educational system. In the framework of a decade crossed by economic growth and the restructuring of social indicators post-crisis of 2001- 2002, regional disparities in education, far from being reduced, seem to have been expanded, which suggests that the improvements have not been equitably distributed throughout the country. In turn, this coincides with a period where several indicators of spending and investment (especially public) showed an uptrend and also certain policies taken tended to soften (although partially) the differences in educational investment among provinces. Again, all this carries the debate to the territorial orientation of these resources, as well as on its actual magnitude and effectiveness in view to improve the situation of the country, its regions and provinces in terms of educational performance. Note that the problems pointed out about the state of education in Argentina occur while the relationship between (aggregate) public expenditure in education and Argentina’s GDP has grown in recent years, being one of the highest in Latin America. This suggests that it would not be strictly a problem of scarcity of resources, but that the distribution and effi ciency of such investment should be treated more carefully, mainly targeting goals that go beyond the inclusion of students in the system, such as quality, content, hours, repetition and dropout rates, etc. (all aspects that currently obstruct the achievement of higher and better educational levels). It is clear, then, that to combat the internal gaps of educational development in Argentina we need to advance in parallel on other interrelated aspects, since there are several phenomena that underlie such disparities. A matter of concern is that, beyond the regional and provincial inequalities analyzed in this paper, the Argentine educational system tends to regenerate the socioeconomic differences of the population. In this regard, we have pointed out that the provincial gaps hide deep differences within each jurisdiction, both about the resources and quality of public and private education as well as the disparities in access to each type of school. To the extent that these and those sources of territorial inequalities are not faced with the required intensity, the objective of equality of opportunities will be increasingly far away.Fil: Niembro, Andrés Alberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Rio Negro. Sede Andina. Departamento de Ciencias Económicas y de la Administracion; Argentin

Innovación y desigualdades regionales de desarrollo: hacia una (re)visión integradora

Aunque en tiempos de la globalización pueda resultar un tanto paradójico, en los últimos años se ha venido evidenciando un interés creciente en las regiones como horizonte de análisis, en la problemática de las desigualdades regionales de desarrollo y en el rol de la innovación a la hora de dar cuenta de dichas disparidades. No obstante, todavía restan importantes nichos para profundizar en las vinculaciones entre estos tópicos. El objetivo del presente trabajo es aportar una primera revisión teórica y balance integrador de la literatura que se ha venido ocupando –aunque muchas veces de un modo parcial– de las relaciones entre innovación, desigualdades o desarrollo regional. Si algo sobresale de esta tarea es que estamos frente a un fenómeno complejo, multidimencional y de muy difícil simplificación, en el cual se entretejen interacciones cruzadas entre todas sus diferentes partes.Fil: Niembro, Andrés Alberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Río Negro. Sede Andina; Argentin