Innovation and productivity: Argentine manufacturing firms in the nineties

CHUDNOVSKY, DANIEL; LÓPEZ, ANDRÉS; PUPATO, GERMÁN

Fuelling economic growth. The role of public-private sector research in development

Practical Action Publishing/IDRC

Lugar: Warwickshire; Año: 2009; p. 5 - 38

This study analyses productivity among Argentine manufacturing firms in the 1990s, in particular the policies introduced to foster innovation in the private sector. The research was designed to better assess the costs and benefits of the tax-credit system for research and development activities, and the performance of the main industrial technology institution in Argentina. Several lessons are identified for policymakers: research and development investment is a fundamental determinant of the probability of successfully introducing innovations; technological flows increase the magnitude of innovation output; large firms are more likely to engage in innovative activities; and firms consider research and development activities to be valuable, even during recessionary times. The authors suggest that by extrapolating these findings, public policies geared toward promoting research and development should have positive results. They recommend removal of barriers that prevent small- and medium-size industries from engaging in innovation, and suggest the need for additional research on the relationships between domestic innovative efforts and the acquisition of technology, and the impacts of new policies designed to foster private innovation.