(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2007-07-10)
Chinaprayoon, Chinawut
This thesis aims to propose a policy-relevant science, technology and innovation indicator for developing countries. I firstly develop a model to examine the determination of innovativeness for a sample of 38 developing countries, based on endogenous growth theory and innovation systems literature. From econometric estimation, I find that R&D inputs, technology imports, and international connectedness are influential determinants of innovativeness in these countries. From this finding, I develop the Predicted Innovativeness Index for Developing Countries (INNÔDEX), a composite indicator that ranks countries according to their innovative capabilities.
(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2007-04-09)
Catalan, Pablo
The study presents an analysis of the role of science and technological (S and T) policies in natural resource-based economies, focusing on the cases of Chile and Finland. The exploitation of natural resources has been identified by several authors as a limited-long-term factor that affects economic growth. Finland following a technology-intensive path has combined natural resource abundance (NRA) with high growth rates. On the other hand, Chile whose economy depends mainly on NRA industries such as mining and forestry has not attained the Finnish economic level in spite of the successful reforms undertaken during the last two decades. Using analytical tools I define the S and T contribution to national income per capita over the 1981-2000 period, and analyze the complementarity of the relationship between S and T expenditures and NRA in both countries. I explain the diverging S and T performances in lights of three factors: institutions, education, and decentralization