Networks, Market Structures and Economic Shocks: The structural changes of Innovation Systems in Latin America

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Technology, structural change and BOP constrained growth: a structuralist toolbox

The Latin American Structuralism (LAS) is a significant part of the heterodox tradition in the theory of long run growth, with a focus on the problems of developing economies which started their industrialization process when other regions had already accumulated substantial technological capabilities. The emergence of a centre-periphery system posed specific problems to growth and distribution in laggard economies which LAS discusses in a systematic way. In this paper we presented a simple model which, firstly, captures key insights of the LAS school, such as the persistency of technological asymmetries and structural heterogeneity; secondly, it can be used to analyze the impacts of shocks and policies based on how they affect supply-side and demand side parameters of the model; thirdly, it links more closely (Post-) Keynesian macroeconomics based on the BOP constraint with the evolutionary microeconomics concerned with the dynamics of learning; lastly, it can be used as a toolbox and a teachable model in the analysis of the interactions between structural change, technological catching up and long run growth.

Technology, structural change and BOP constrained growth: A structuralist toolbox

The Latin American Structuralism (LAS) is a significant part of the heterodox tradition in the theory of long run growth, with a focus on the problems of developing economies which started their industrialization process when other regions had already accumulated substantial technological capabilities. The emergence of a centre-periphery system posed specific problems to growth and distribution in laggard economies which LAS discusses in a systematic way. In this paper we presented a simple model which,firstly, captures key insights of the LAS school, such as the persistency of technological asymmetries and structural heterogeneity; secondly, it can be used to analyze the impacts of shocks and policies based on how they affect supply-side and demand side parameters of the model; thirdly, it links more closely (Post-) Keynesian macroeconomics based on the BOP constraint with the evolutionary microeconomics concerned with the dynamics of learning; lastly, it can be used as a toolbox and a teachable model in the analysis of the interactions between structural change, technological catching up and long run growth.technology gap - structural change -- structuralist model

Has the Chilean Neo-Liberal Experiment Run Out of Fuel? A View on Specialisation, Technological Gaps and Catching-Up

Due to an extraordinary growth performance during the last two decades the Chilean neo-liberal model of development, based on the exploitation of the country’s static comparative advantages, has turned into a benchmark for most developing countries. The aim of this paper is to discuss the long term sustainability of the Chilean neo-liberal model of development. We present new empirical results obtained by using CAN2000 as well as input-output analysis that describe the Chilean model of development during the period 1986-1998. On the basis of these stylised facts, a simple ricardian-evolutionary model is developed in order to offer an interpretative framework to discuss the conditions under which Chile could maintain the current catching-up process in the long run. The main conclusion is that, with the recent ceasing of the push effects of the neo-liberal policies, it is unlikely that an increase of the export volume, given its structural characteristics, will be sufficient to this end. Indeed, an increase of the country’s sectoral industrial interdependence and an improvement of its international specialisation pattern towards goods with higher technological content and higher income elasticity of world demand are necessary conditions for maintaining the current catching-up process in the long run.Chile, Technological gaps, International specialisation, Catching-up, Neo-Liberal Structural Reforms

The Future of Industrial Policies in the New Millennium: Toward a Knowledge-Centered Development Agenda

The paper present the conclusions to the book "The Political Economy of Capabilities Accumulation: the Past and Future of Policies for Industrial Development", edited by M. Cimoli, G. Dosi and J. E. Stiglitz, Oxford University Press, forthcoming. While it is futile to search for any 'magic policy recipe' automatically yielding industrialization, the contributions to the book, we argue, do indeed help in identifying some basic ingredients and principles that successful policy arrangements historically had and have in common. In this concluding chapter we spell out some of them. They include: (i) an 'emulation philosophy' vis-à-vis the most promising technological paradigms; (ii) various measures safeguarding the possibility of 'infant industry learning', involving also the purposeful 'distortion' of market signals as they come from the international arena; (iii) explicit policies of capability-building directed both at education and training but also at nurturing and shaping specific corporate actors; (iv) a 'political economy of rent-management' favourable to learning and industrialization, while curbing the exploitation of monopolist positions; (v) measures aimed to foster and exploit a weak Intellectual Property Rights regime, especially with respect to the companies of the developed world; (vi) strategies aimed at avoiding the 'natural resource course'; (vii) 'virtuous' complementarities between industrial policies and macroeconomic management. Further the chapter discusses the opportunities and constraints associated with the current regimes of trade and IPR governance and puts forward some basic building blocks of a proposed new pro-developmental consensus fostering knowledge accumulation and industrialization in catching-up countries.Development, Industrial Policies, Knowledge Accumulation, Catching-up, New International Consensus

Institutional Requirements for Market-led Development in Latin America

This paper seeks to provide a systematized framework for the main ideas that have been developed by ECLAC concerning the effects that market-led reforms have had on labour, financial and technology markets. In order to explore these questions further, a research project has been undertaken by ECLAC with the sponsorship of the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ). The project deals with the institutional requirements for properly functioning financial, technology and labour markets. Particular attention is being devoted to the institutional forces affecting market access by traditionally excluded actors, such as small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the case of long-term financial and technology markets, poor households in the case of housing finance, and female workers in the case of the labour market. As a consequence of the market-led reforms, Latin America has transformed its pattern of development and the way in which its brand of capitalism is configured. At the same time, the reform process is shown to have yielded unsatisfactory results when the performance level achieved in each factor market is evaluated. Labour markets exhibit a range of difficulties in reducing unemployment and informal employment. Financial markets are characterized by concentration and by the increasing difficulties encountered by the weaker agents in accessing resources. And, in most of the economies in the region, the role played by technology markets in creating and diffusing technology domestically is being downgraded. This poor performance has co-evolved along with a reduction in the State’s participation in the economy and an increasing power asymmetry in favour of private agents. The above difficulties seem to be related to the persistence of various types of market failures and the lack of non-market institutions capable of strengthening and supporting the operation of factor markets. The persistence of imperfect information, the lack of initial entitlements and gaps in learning capabilities have hindered the adaptation of various actors to the discipline of a new macro policy and incentive regime. Because of these underlying weaknesses in the institutional fabric inherited by the region, its factor markets have functioned very imperfectly and have failed to deliver what was expected of them in terms of a better long-term overall performance.Institutions; Development; Latin America

Technology and intellectual property: a taxonomy of contemporary markets for knowledge and their implications for development

This paper aims to contribute to frame the IP for development debate into a more extensive discussion on appropriability, within the perspective of policies shaping scientific, technological and production capabilities in the light of development theory. Through the lenses of the paradigm based theory of innovation, the authors first recognize that technological asymmetries and gaps between firms and countries appear more as sticky features than as transitory stages of (automatic) adjustment processes, thus reassessing the appropriability ad disclosure function of patents. Then, the paper presents a taxonomy of contemporary markets for knowledge, flagging the existence of what we call derivative markets for knowledge. Patents become to a certain extent liquid because they loose the weight and the density of the technological component and they can easily circulate in the market without having necessarily to be entangled in any final artifact. Just as in derivative financial markets, the value of patents is a function of expectations regarding their uncertain potential future value. The paper concludes sketching the implications for development focusing on two major issues: i) how reassessing the role of IP through an evolutionary perspective affects behavioral microfoundations of innovative conducts and ii) how asymmetries in technological and production capacities between countries mould patenting behavior and participation and exclusion in the contemporary markets for knowledge.intellectual property rights, patents, appropriability, markets for knowledge, developing countries

Institutions and Policies Shaping Industrial Development: An Introductory Note

In this work, meant as an introduction to the contributions of the task force on Industrial Policies and Development, Initiative for Policy Dialogue, Columbia University, New York, we discuss the role of institutions and policies in the process of development. We begin by arguing how misleading the "market failure" language can be in order to assess the necessity of public policies in that it evaluates it against a yardstick that is hardly met by any observed market set-up. Much nearer to the empirical evidence we argue that even when one encounters a prevailing market form of governance of economic interactions, the latter are embedded in a rich thread of non-market institutions. This applies in general and is particularly so with respect to the production and use of information and technological knowledge. In this work we build on the fundamental institutional embeddedness of such processes of technological learning in both developed and catching-up countries and we try to identify some quite robust policy ingredients which have historically accompanied the co-evolution between technological capabilities, forms of corporate organisations and incentive structures. All experiences of successful catching-up and sometimes overtaking the incumbent economic leaders – starting with the USA vis-à-vis Britain – have involved “institution building” and policy measures affecting technological imitation, the organisations of industries, trade patterns and intellectual property rights. This is likely to apply today, too, – we argue – also in the context of a “globalised” world economy.Institutions, development, industrial policies, technological catching-up, trade specialisations.

Tecnología, heterogeneidad y crecimiento: un caja de herramientas estructuralista

En este texto se presentan algunas ideas claves del estructuralismo latino-americano por medio de un conjunto muy acotado de ecuaciones y gráficos. El artículo pretende ser, al mismo tiempo, un instrumento didáctico (que puede usarse como apoyo en cursos de grado e de post-grado) y una caja de herramientas para pensar los efectos de ciertas políticas y choques sobre el crecimiento y la distribución. Se busca así contribuir a la enseñaza y difusión de una rica e importante corriente del pensamiento sobre desarrollo económico, destacando sus altos niveles de articulación interna, su originalidad y, al mismo tiempo, sus vínculos y continuidad con otras teorías heterodoxas del crecimiento y la distribución, como las teorías keynesiana y evolucionista.

National System of Innovation: A note on technological asymmetries and catching‑up perspectives

What distinguishes the National Innovation System (NIS) across different countries? How much NIS could be considered as a useful analytical framework to explain growth performances? Which kind of representation can supersede the “push policy view” of NIS approach? These questions are worthy of particular attention for the understanding of empirical and analytical potential achievements of this approach. This paper discusses the main approaches that explain technological divergence and convergence. It is argued that another element identified as the “national institutional dimension” has to be explicitly taken into account for the understanding of the interplay that exists between technology, specialization and growth. It also provides a macro-representation of NIS which potentially captures and identifies at the micro, meso and macro levels the main threads that link innovation, institutions, competencies and economic performances, as well as a simple graphical model of the interplay between NIS, competencies and growth performances