Argentina’s subpar investment in science

CARIGNANO, HUGO A.; JAWORSKI, JUAN P.

SCIENCE

AMER ASSOC ADVANCEMENT SCIENCE

Año: 2019 vol. 363

0036-8075

Socioeconomic progress is closely linked to investment in research and development (R&D) (1). Countries can encourage economic growth by spending a substantial share of gross domestic product (GDP) on R&D (2). Argentina, which is in the midst of an economic crisis that is hitting scientists hard (?Argentina´s scientists engulfed in budget crisis,? E. Rodríguez Mega, News, 16 November 2018, https://scim.ag/ArgentinaBudget), has not noticeably increased research spending in the past decade (3), despite promises to invest more (4, 5). In 2015, Argentina invested 0.63% GDP into R&D, compared with Brazil´s 1.28% and 2.74% by the United States (3). Argentina´s science enterprise also suffers because 80% of the country´s R&D funding comes from the public sector, unlike in Brazil and the United States, where the private sector contributes substantially (6). To spur scientific progress and economic growth, Argentina´s government should implement policies that increase R&D funding.