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Rana, Jayantha Prasanna Liyanage, (2014),"Road-mapping the business potential of sustainability within the European
manufacturing industry", foresight, Vol. 16 Iss 4 pp. 360-384 http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/FS-05-2012-0037
Eva Hideg, Erzsbet Novky, Pter Alcs, (2014),"Interactive foresight on the Hungarian SMEs", foresight, Vol. 16 Iss 4 pp.
344-359 http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/FS-12-2012-0091
Remi Barre, (2014),"Innovation systems dynamics and the positioning of Europe. A review and critique of recent Foresight
studies", foresight, Vol. 16 Iss 2 pp. 126-141 http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/FS-05-2012-0041
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systems of BRIC and GCC countries, highlights similar and different approaches and attempts to
University Higher
quantify their success. For example, GCC countries spend extensively on research and development
School of Economics, (R&D), but have so far achieved less than meaningful results. Brazil, China and India are catching up to
Moscow, Russian the acknowledged world leaders in innovation, but Russia is lagging.
Federation. Dirk Meissner Design/methodology/approach Our comparison was based mostly on secondary data from
is based at Higher sources and institutions that use statistical data to build country rankings, such as the Global
School of Economics, Competitiveness Index (GCI) produced by the World Economic Forum. BRIC and GCC countries were
Moscow, Russian analyzed over 1996-2011 because most of the indicators data are only available from 1996. Data related
Federation. to intellectual property rights have been collected since 1999 or 2000. The data available for the number
of researchers proved problematic for both BRIC and GCC countries. For instance, some data for the
GCC countries was missing. To not leave a gap, we extrapolated in line with the overall trend; using the
least squares method to approximate a straight line for the missing data based on what had already
been reported.
Findings Counter-intuitively, we will argue that the push toward an innovation-based economy is
actually not dependent on total expenditure on R&D, but rather relies on the efficient allocation of
investments and the rigorous implementation of innovation strategy. And, we will demonstrate this by
showing our ideas in relation to both BRIC and GCC countries. This analysis raises fascinating points of
discussion for those looking to build an innovation economy in other countries and has practical
implications for policy-makers and policy implementers in all countries.
Originality/value First analysis of the correlation of gross expenditure on R&D (GERD) with gross
domestic product (GDP) growth and Straits Times Index (STI) policy measures.
Keywords Innovation, Globalization, Knowledge economy, Technology-led strategy,
Economic growth, International politics
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
Increasingly, economists recognize that knowledge-based innovation is a major driver of
competitiveness. That requires a powerful knowledge base, often centered on technology
and innovation, as an important precondition for building and developing a genuine
innovation economy.
Received 9 July 2012
Revised 13 September 2012 For a long time, economists have also believed that countries in transition would be well
Accepted 26 September 2012
able to adapt the knowledge and competences generated in developed countries (Cohen,
The study was implemented in
the framework of the Basic
Levinthal, 1990; Zahra, George, 2002). That is, by building a robust research and education
Research Program at the infrastructure, they would be able to absorb new knowledge and innovation developed
National Research University
Higher School of Economics
elsewhere. And so in the main, that is where countries from Brazil, Russia, India and China
(HSE) in 2012. (BRIC) and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have invested.
DOI 10.1108/FS-09-2012-0063 VOL. 16 NO. 4 2014, pp. 293-308, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 1463-6689 foresight PAGE 293
However, building and maintaining a knowledge economy is a complex and difficult
undertaking, itself only one step toward building a genuine innovation ecosystem (Brinkley
et al., 2012; Liu and Chen, 2003; Hui, 2007). And within that system, there are important
layers of emphasis. At the foundation lies publicly supported research, which functions as
the driver of original innovation in the long-term. A second layer of innovation usually comes
from industrial research and spin offs from existing large enterprises. Third, market
development and firm creation are important for the innovation ecosystem to function
effectively (though markets are generally driven through forces of regulation, procurement
or early adoption by risk-taking consumers and so should be seen as part of the interlinked
innovation ecosystem rather than as stand-alone phenomena) (Goedhuys, 2007).
The countries analyzed, namely, BRIC, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates
(GCC) have similar aspirations in attempting to transition toward an innovation-driven
economy, yet they all show very different approaches and success. For instance, Research
and Development (R&D) is an obvious function in a continuous chain of innovation that links
scientific research, market research, development design, first production and market
acceptance. Therefore, its perhaps not surprising that the BRIC countries are building and
developing national research and technology infrastructures, investing a significant share
of gross domestic product (GDP) in their science and technology systems. Yet in relative
terms the GCC countries invest significantly less. Therefore, we compared all of the BRIC
and GCC countries to assess their development and achievements, our emphasis lying on
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attempting to tease out the strategy at the heart of the initiatives what impact theyve seen
to date and where useful opportunities for growth might lie.
Lead driver National Industrial Innovation Strategy The Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030 was A four-year development plan has been
presented in November 2009, but published in August 2007 and is the main law since 2010: STI is a critical element
implementation responsibilities have focus of all public activities. It is likely that of many requested policies
been decentralized with little overview the vision will be revised shortly
on implementation status
Lead institutions King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology Development Council (TDC) Kuwait Institute for Science and
Technology (KACST). Other responsible for STI policy. The Department Research (KISR). A planned STI council
government institutions such as Sagia of Economic Development has recently will oversee and coordinate STI policy
and NICDP are responsible for established a Council of Competitiveness and its implementation
economic development (COAD)
STI Policy STI policy was written in 2005 STI policy was published in 2011; current Two parallel STI policy concepts were
definition activities are underway to implement the developed in 2007; neither of them was
concept with agreement of all involved implemented. A new STI policy has
stakeholders. Process is rather slow been requested by the development
plan and will be developed in 2012
Current Objective is to join the advanced Key objective stated as empowering the Objective is to regain the STI
objectives and knowledge-based economies with a nation, transforming the economy, and leadership position in the region, to
focus of STI highly competitive STI ecosystem by inspiring the people. Five focus areas solve current economic development
Policy 2025. Eight programs and 11 are: Human Capital; R&D environment; and labor challenges and to establish a
technology priorities were defined Enterprise development; Infrastructure and long-term foundation for future growth
Laws and Regulations by fostering the development of STI
activities in Kuwait
Megaprojects KAUST (King Abdullah University of MASDAR: CO2-neutral knowledge city in The Economic Development Plan,
and Investments Science and Technology) opened in the desert. The project was started in published in 2010, has an investment
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(bold moves) September 2010, with a financial 2006 with expected completion by 2025. volume of USD 104 billion until 2014,
endowment of USD 10 billion Estimated cost of USD 16-22 billion mostly for infrastructure projects
Economic Cities: Investment of more
than USD 60 billion to build four new
cities for up to five million residents,
who are expected to contribute USD
150 billion to Saudi GDP
Internal Unclear, no transparent measurement Emirate-wide performance management Performance management system is
measurement of system in place system for all government entities was being implemented and will be active
progress implemented in 2009 from 2012
International 10 by 10 was an internal Saudi Usually, rankings are measured on the Kuwait improved in 2012 in the World
rankings intiative to have the country feature federal UAE level, but Abu Dhabi has now Banks Ease of Doing Business index
as one of the top 10 countries in the proactively started to work together with by four ranks to Number 67, after five
World Banks Ease of Doing WEF and the World Bank to produce consecutive years of going down in the
Business Index. It was number 10 in emirate-level ranking comparisons rankings
2011; from number 67 in 2004
Challenges and Science personal and motivation TK TK
difficulties Follow-up on plans (see
megaprojects)
Lead driver Innovation Law was published in November The 12th Five-Year Plan for S&T The Report of the Steering Committee on Science & The Long-term Socio-Economic
2004 and is aimed at increasing the Development was published in April Technology for XIth Five Year Plan (2007-2012) was Development of the Russian Federation
competitiveness of firms 2011. It defines a strategy and plan published in February 2006. It aimed to develop an for the Period up to the year 2020 was
In November 2005, Positive Law drastically for future actions for all NIS (national approach on S&T and to suggest new plans and published in November 2011. This lays
simplified the process for investing in R&D innovation system) actors and also programs for the S&T sector. Its main purpose was to out a framework for future policies and
and introduced a slew of fiscal incentives defines priorities in STI policy influence the national planning process measures. In addition, a number of
for firms looking to investIn November complementing documents will be
2005, Positive Law drastically simplified the created to specify mechanisms and
process for investing in R&Dand ways in which the goals of the Concept
introduced a slew of fiscal incentives for will be achieved
firms looking to invest
Lead Government sector: The largest group of Government sector: Chinese Academy Government sector: Council of Scientific and Industrial Government sector: Russian Academy of
institutions Public Research Organizations includes 19 of Sciences (CAS) Research; Department of Atomic Energy; Department Sciences, with branch academies for
organizations such as the CBPF (Brazilian Private sector: PetroChina; ZTE; China of Science and Technology; Department of Medicine, Education, Agriculture,
Centre for Physical Research); CEITEC S.A. Petroleum & Chemical; China Railway Biotechnology; Department of Electronics; Department Architecture and Arts. Russian Federal
(Advanced Electronics Technology Construction; Lenovo; Dongfeng Motor; of Space; Defense Research and Development Space Agency (Roscosmos); Kurchatov
Excellence Centre) and CETEM (Minerals China Coal Energy; China Organization; Indian Council of Agricultural Research; Institute (nuclear and nano research
Technology Centre); CETENE (Northeast Communications Construction; BYD; Indian Council of Medical Research; Department of institution)
Region Strategic Technology Centre) China South Locomotive Non-Conventional Sources of Energy; and Department Private sector: Business and state
Private sector: Companies such as Petrobrs Higher education sector: National of Ocean Development corporations such as Rosatom; United
and its laboratories (COPPE/UFRJ, PUC-Rio, Taiwan University; Peking University; Private sector: 20 Research Associations in different Aircraft Corporation; Gazprom; Lukoil;
Unicamp and USP) Tsinghua University; Chinese University sectors, including Automotive Research Association of Russian Technologies (Rostechnologii);
Higher education sector: nine of Hong Kong India (ARAI); Wool Research Association; Tea Kaspersky Lab; JSC Sitronics; JSFC
government-sponsored universities include: Research Association; Textile Research Associations Sistema; Norilsk-Nickel; Onexim Group;
Universidade Federal (UF) de So Paul; UF based in North India and South India; Jute Research Renova Group; Rosneft
de Cincias da Sade de Porto Alegre; UF Association, among others Higher education sector: Moscow State
de Vios; UF de Minas Gerais; UF do Rio Higher education sector: 24 established Central University; Moscow Physical Technical
Grande do Sul; UF do Tringulo Mineiro; UF Universities. Four Indian Institutes of Technology, six Institute; St. Petersburg State University;
do Rio de Janeiro; UF de So Carlos; Indian Institutes of Management and 14 more Central Novosibirsk State University
Pontifcia Universidade Catlica do Rio de Universities to be set up, according to Government
Janeiro. One private university: UF de Itajub Program in 2008
STI Policy STI policy is defined by INNOVATION LAW Medium-term STI policy goals are STI policy is defined by Five Year Plans. Policy in the Main issues of STI policy are determined
definition AND POSITIVE LAW defined by the 12th Five-Year Plan for biotech sector is defined by National Biotechnology by Long-term Socio-Economic
S&T Development Development Strategy (published in November 2007) Development of the Russian Federation
Long-term STI policy is determined by for the Period up to the year 2020
the Medium- and Long-term National The development path of the Academies
Plan for Science and Technology of Sciences is determined by the
Development 2006-2020, published in Programme of Modernization of the
January 2006 Russian Academies of Sciences,
foresight
(published in June 2009)
(continued)
PAGE 297
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Table II
Criteria Brazil China India Russia
Current Expansion and consolidation of Brazilian The main targets of Science and According to XIth Five Year Plan, the main goals of Main goals of STI policy in Russia can be
GERD volume (USD in billions) 15.6 66.5 18.6 17.9 0.1 0.3
Growth rate of GERD volume (%) 8.4 18.9 7.9 7.2 1.7 4.0
GERD as per cent of GDP 1.0 1.1 0.8 1.1 0.1 0.1
Notes: Growth rates are calculated for volume of GERD in national currencies in constant 2010 prices; no data on dynamics of GERD
in the UAE are available for us from the databases listed in Source
Source: Authors calculations based on Euromonitor, IMF, UNESCO database and national statistics
3.2.2 Russia and China. The private sector also plays an important role in funding and in
supporting R&D in both Russia and China, though it is important to note the governments
influence on influential companies in these countries. Both Russia and China own or
part-own many of the companies whose R&D activities are accounted for as business R&D
and as such their industrial R&D activities should be seen as directed by political agendas
rather than as following any one companys individual innovation strategy.
3.3.3 India. Of the BRIC countries, India is lagging behind, sharing distinct similarities with
the GCC countries. While India, in absolute terms, provides significant resources, the
relative share of GERD/GDP shows that the current level is not sufficient to achieve a lasting
momentum based on R&D and innovation. Moreover, the Indian NIS is characterized by
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inefficient mechanisms of PPP in R&D sector; a low level of integration of Indian scientists
into global scientific community and a weak position of Indian SME innovative firms.
3.3.4 Kuwait. Kuwaits R&D is entirely a function of the government and its related
institutions; the business and the higher education sector did not perform R&D at all.
However, Kuwait is currently establishing both a research and higher education
infrastructure. For now, these institutions are still accounted for as government activities in
the national accounts and statistics, while most business enterprises are seen as
government-owned. In addition, the share of business sector-financed R&D fluctuated in
the range from 18 to 20.9 per cent falling to 4.4 per cent in 2004 but not exceeding 7.5 per
cent in subsequent years, eventually decreasing even more to 2.3 per cent in 2008. Thus,
the dynamics of the share of business sector financing of GERD in Kuwait had a stepwise
character. This decline in share of business sector in GERD financing was due to the
increase of the share of GERD financing by government sector. The significance of foreign
funds in financing of GERD in Kuwait was very low. Higher education sector did not
participate in the financing or in the performance of GERD in Kuwait at all. Thus,
investments in R&D were almost entirely under the control of the government. The business
sector has had some impact on investment in GERD in the late 1990s and early 2000s, but
by 2009, the business sector actually left the sector of R&D. This process was stepwise: in
2003 and 2006, there was a sharp decline in the share of the business sector in the
financing of GERD (Huibo and Bingwen, 2010; Tseng, 2009; Osman and Nour, 2011).
3.3.5 Saudi Arabia. The Saudi Arabian National Industrial Innovation Strategy was
presented in November 2009. However, the responsibilities have been decentralized
resulting in little overview on the current implementation status, making it more difficult to
capture evidence for its impact. One remarkable objective of Saudi Arabia is the intention
to join the advanced knowledge-based economies with a highly competitive STI ecosystem
by 2025. In consequence, 8 programs and 11 technology priorities were defined which are
currently being implemented. However, Saudi Arabia is lacking sufficient investment in
R&D and innovation until currently with rather modest 4 per cent GERD growth rate which
mirrors an R&D intensity of 0.1 per cent GERD/GDP). Accordingly, the number of
researchers (head count) grew by 130 per cent in the past 10 years. Compared to other
countries in transition to innovation-driven economies, these figures seem rather low.
However, one needs to take into account the surrounding conditions, e.g. the structure of
the economy which is largely driven by the oil sector.
of the countries near it. Similarly, Saudi Arabia is a statistical outlier with GCI innovation
index is much greater than innovation index in countries with comparable GERD. The level
of GDP per capita in Saudi Arabia was also much higher than in countries, which had
levels of GERD comparable with Saudi Arabias level. Accordingly, in Saudi Arabia, the
high level of NISs was determined not by investments in R&D, but by some other factor.
Consequently, the outputs produced by these researchers have developed in a similar
pattern. The publications in GCC have increased on a very small base (Table V). Russia
has only slightly increased the number, whereas India, Brazil and China have substantially
increased the publications three-, five- and elevenfold, respectively. However, this is not
an indicator for the quality of the publications. There is no consistent difference between
BRIC and GCC countries. Brazil and India have a higher number of citations, whereas
China and Russia have a lower number compared to the GCC countries which are relatively
homogeneous (Tseng, 2009; Liu et al., 2010; Liu and Lundin, 2006; Gokhberg et al., 2011,
Gokhberg, 2003; Dezhina and Zashev, 2007).
One more output factor that we looked at was the share of high-tech exports as an indicator
for success of innovation efforts in each country. China is here even more dominant than
expected from the input data, even when comparing to the huge population
Brazil 54.9 63.8 73.9 77.9 82.2 90.0 98.3 1,09.4 116.7 124.9 133.3 139.6 254
China 485.5 531.1 695.1 742.7 810.5 862.1 926.3 1,118.7 1,223.8 1,423.4 1,592.4 1,576.9 325
India 117.5 116.7 115.9 125.7 135.4 135.4 145.1 1,54.8 142.5 144.2 145.9 147.7 126
Russia 492.5 497.0 506.4 505.8 491.9 487.5 477.6 4,64.6 464.4 469.1 451.2 442.3 90
Kuwait 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.5 0.4 0.4 133
Saudi Arabia 1.0 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.5 1.3 1.2 1.1 1.1 1.0 1.2 1.3 130
Notes: For Saudi Arabia, data are in head count representation, for all other countries in FTE representation; for all countries, except
Russia and Kuwait, data were restored by method of extrapolation. For Saudi Arabia, data for 2003-2006 are based on extrapolation
by the method of linear approximation. For India, data for 1999, 2001-2004 and 2006-2009 are based on extrapolation by the method
of linear approximation. For India, data only in FTE are available. For China, data for 2009 are based on extrapolation by the method
of linear approximation. For China, data only in FTE representation are available. For Brazil, data for 1998-1999 and 2009 are based
on extrapolation by the method of linear approximation
Source: Authors calculations from UNESCO database
BRIC countries
Brazil 3.48 3.51 3.5 3.5 3.52 3.55 3.5
China 3.64 3.51 3.6 3.87 3.93 3.92 3.92
India 3.91 4.03 3.9 3.74 3.73 3.62 3.58
Russian Federation 3.43 3.34 3.31 3.41 3.35 3.25 3.14
GCC countries
Kuwait 2.94 2.98 3.16 3.07 2.96 3.03 3
Saudi Arabia 3.44 3.68 3.7 3.92 4.16
The UAE 3.24 3.32 3.37 3.42 3.87 3.91 3.96
Other estimates
Highest level The USA The USA The USA The USA The USA The USA Switzerland
5.93 5.82 5.77 5.84 5.77 5.65 5.77
Lowest level Chad Albania Albania Paraguay Paraguay Kyrgyzstan Yemen
2.09 2.09 2.1 2.06 2.14 2.12 1.77
All countries average 3.41 3.41 3.43 3.4 3.38 3.35 3.36
BRIC countries 3.62 3.59 3.58 3.63 3.63 3.58 3.53
Middle east and North Africa 3.12 3.08 3.24 3.24 3.18 3.19 3.11
Note: The estimations are based on the following criteria 1the worst innovation system, 7the best one
Source: World Economic Forum. Global Competitiveness Reports database
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(Dahlman, 2008). Surprisingly, Kuwaits high-tech exports per capita are relatively high,
especially when compared to India and Russia (Table VI).
From several global existing rankings, the 12th pillar on innovation of the GCI developed by
the World Economic Forum has the broadest acceptance. In result, the GCI shows a broad
picture of the different development stages of the seven analyzed countries over the past
years (Table VII).
It is notable that all countries are close together in the middle of the rating system between
3 and slightly 4. India had a relatively high value GCI innovation index 3.62 points in
Table VI Publication activity of BRIC and GCC countries in 1996-2010 in Scopus database
Country Number of publications Citations per one publication in scientific journals
1996 2010 1996-2010
High-tech export as per cent of GDP 0.69 5.72 0.39 0.82 0.021 0.023 0.021
USD of high-tech export per capita 26.23 31.67 0.19 3.59 26.05 1.11 2.04
Note: High-technology exports are products with high R&D intensity, such as in aerospace, computers, pharmaceuticals, scientific
instruments and electrical machinery
Source: Authors calculations from Euromonitor, World Bank and United Nations Comtrade, Euromonitor International databases and
national statistics databases
Innovation-related capabilities are growing at high ratios with special emphasis on hi-tech
sectors.
The Brazilian science system becomes, increasingly, a high quality system with global
outreach, while R&D and innovation activities at industry level remain unequal with some
success in airspace, energy, metallurgy and agro-business (Huibo and Bingwen, 2011;
Cassiolato, 2008; Melo and Rapini, 2012; Balbachevsky and Botelho, 2011; de Brito Cruz
and de Mello, 2006; Chandrashekar and Basvarajappa, 2001).
3.3 Findings
There is a clear correlation between R&D investment intensity (GERD/GDP) and GCI
innovation index, as shown in the red line crossing Figure 2 (Figure 1).
This is not a surprising finding because the GCI innovation index composition reflects
GERD only marginally. Furthermore, all BRIC countries and Kuwait are very close to this
optimal line with the exemption of Saudi Arabia which is a complete outlier (Figure 2). That
raises the question, how is it possible to be highly innovative without much R&D
investments? The following detailed data interpretations will consider each of the analyzed
countries.
China is a country which is continuously expanding its innovation capacities and
capabilities mirrored in the increasing GCI values which are strongly correlated to the
growth of R&D investments, number of researchers, scientific publications and patent
applications. Consequently, it has the highest high-tech exports of all analyzed countries.
Surprisingly, even faster developments and higher GCI rankings are observed in Saudi
Arabia and the UAE; however, it needs to kept in mind that these countries start from a
lower level of GCI and GERD; moreover, some data are not available for the UAE but R&D
investments, number of researchers and, consequently, high-tech exports are minimal. In
light of the policies developed and applied in these countries, the openness of the STI
regimes toward different types of international collaboration is remarkable. The GCC
countries are aiming at building a research and innovation infrastructure by employing
international science, technology, innovation and industry leaders to design and implement
related initiatives. Thus, the countries direct investment in the first instance toward
education of a new generation of well-trained human resources which is competitive on a
global scale. While China is using this policy approach since the 1980s, Russia is currently
beginning to attract international expertise for laying the foundation of developing a new
generation of innovators at a large scale. However, it needs to be reminded that such
measures have no short-term direct impact.
Brazil and India are ranked in the middle section of GCI without major change or even slight
decline in the case of India. Both countries have comparable innovation input and output
factors only Brazil has significantly increased the number of researchers (Melo and Rapini,
2012; Kulkarni and Bougias, 2008; Joseph et al., 2010).
The least favorable innovation index values are given to Russia and Kuwait which were both
innovation leaders within their peer group some years ago. Turbulences at political and
world economy levels proved to have negative impact on the STI performance of these
countries. Russia can still draw on a very skilled scientific elite as can easily be seen when
looking at the, by far, highest ratio of granted patents by applications. On the other side, it
is remarkable that the increase of researchers is the lowest of all countries and the number
of publications has also decreased. The amount of high-tech exports is about as big as in
Brazil, despite having three times as many researchers. Therefore, an obvious conclusion
is that Russia has a major problem of commercializing its research results (Peltola, 2008;
Gianella and Tompson, 2007).
Kuwait seems to have stagnated in its innovation progress since the occupation 20 years
ago. Its innovation index is the weakest of all analyzed countries, practically without change
in the past years. The country, which was leading technology development in the regions
through institutions like the Kuwait Institute of Science and Research and the Kuwait
University has stagnated in many ways. R&D investments are the lowest which can be
explained by the size of the country, but this does not explain the lowest growth rate of R&D
investments within this group. Further evidence is found in the low number of scientific
publications, moreover, in the strong decline of the already low level of scientific
publications in absolute terms. Thus, BRIC and GCC have launched initiatives to develop
the human resources, which require directing the highest number of students and
competent individuals toward the technological and scientific specializations. Besides
human resources, financial resources are required which reinforce the innovation and
renovation and transform the results of scientific research to products, materials or
operations, such as the initiative, primary and supportive capital, particularly by institutional
means such as centers of product improvement, centers of renovation and innovation,
centers of technology improvement, technological incubators and different forms of and
technological parks. Such institutions are meant to aim at cooperative means in the fields
of applied STI. The underlying precondition for achieving these ambitions is awareness and
media means in the technological and scientific fields (Al- Awahdi, Al-Sultan 2,207; Esteves
et al., 2008; Hedner et al., 2013; Wiseman and Anderson, 2012; McGlennon, 2006).
4. Discussion of findings
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The conclusions are based on the analysis of quantitative data and on the analysis of
relevant policy initiatives of these countries. The focus of conclusions and
recommendations is, thus, to show the impact of these on respective economic growth but
not on the comparison of the different countries.
The success of BRIC countries evidently correlates with the focus on technology
development and the ability to apply its results. China is a good example where both seem
to work very well. One indication for this is the high number of business-initiated and
performed R&D compared to the strong government and academic focus in the other
countries. Brazil and India seem to stagnate somewhat and should further push on the
commenced initiatives (Melo and Rapini, 2012; Doctor, 2009; Joseph et al., 2010); Russia
has fallen behind and needs to completely rebuild its innovation position in the world.
Technological development does not seem to be the key driver for the innovation success
of these countries. Acquisition of technologies and a smart use of the existing oil money as
practiced in Saudi Arabia and the UAE seems to be well-suited to achieve to superior
results. Kuwait has not been able to do equally well in the past years. However, its current
economic development plan is clearly focusing to push in the same direction.
Transition countries with large populations and little natural resources benefit most from
focusing on R&D efforts and technology to drive economic progress. Smaller countries with
natural resources do not rely on own R&D efforts but need to find other ways to improve
innovation success to move away from its dependence on income from natural resources
over time.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE have shown progress in innovation without major R&D
investments. However, both countries need to continue demonstrating an innovation
impact to further progress. Therefore, it is crucial that both countries follow-up on their
ambitious growth and innovation plans without the ability to build on a strong R&D base.
China, Brazil and India are likely to continue their fast pace with strong technology
developments (Doctor, 2009; Joseph et al., 2010). The only change is that instead of
copying the Western world and focusing on cheaper disruptive innovations, they will likely
come up with world leading technology breakthroughs. Depending on the industry, this
may take many years or is just ahead.
need to build and maintain competences to scan scientific developments in the world and
use foresight techniques.
In-depth analysis of STI policies applied in countries beyond BRIC and GCC countries
show that countries need to find their own path for national development, e.g.
benchmarking other countries but adapting STI policy measures to national conditions,
taking into account, especially, cultural and ethical characteristics of the nations and
populations, public awareness and attitudes. With such soft factors taken into account,
countries need to define their own aspirations and goals including thorough analysis of their
current situation and ways to close gaps which can but do not have to lead to an increased
R&D spending. Moreover, it proves essential to clearly communicate the plans to national
stakeholders and to the outside world to be recognized for the improvements and create
attractive innovation hubs.
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Further reading
Djeflat, A. (2002), Knowledge economy for the MENA region national systems of innovation in the
MENA region, World Bank, WP 50269, Washington DC.
Krishnan, R.T. (2003), The Evolution of a Developing Country Innovation System During Economic
Liberalization: The Case of India, Paper presented at The First Globelics Conference, November 3 6,
2003.
OECD (2008), OECD Reviews of Innovation Policy: China 2008, OECD, Paris.
OECD (2011), OECD Reviews of Innovation Policy: Russian Federation 2011, OECD, Paris.
Rodriguez, A., Dahlman, C. and Salmi, J. (2008), Knowledge and Innovation for Competitiveness in
Brazil, The World Bank, Washington, DC.
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Sharma, S. and Dutta, A. (2008), Intellectual property rights and innovation in developing countries:
evidence from India, Georgetown University.
Soares, C., Clara, M. and Cassiolato, J.E. (2008), Innovation systems and inequality: the experience
of Brazil, Paper presented at the VI Globelics Conference at Mexico City, 22-24 September.
World Bank (2006), India: national agricultural innovation project, project appraisal document, Report
No: 34908-In., World Bank, Washington, DC.
Xiaobo, W. (2007), The comparison of China and India with the view of national innovation system,
Studies in Science of Science, (Beijing), 2007-S2.
Zhang, M. (Ed) (2010), Competitiveness and Growth in Brazilian Cities: Local Policies and Actions
for Innovation. The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, The World Bank,
Washington, DC.
Corresponding author
Dirk Meissner can be contacted at: dirk.meissner@gmail.com