Catching Up and Academic Institutions: A Comparative Study of Past National Experiences

The universities' role in economic development is again today an important focus of debate. While policy in developing countries often aims at reproducing advanced economies' institutions, recent research on national systems of innovation frames the hypothesis that the catching up process is marked by changes in the contribution of academic institutions to the development of firm-level capabilities. This paper argues in favour of this hypothesis. Drawing from the history of successful national catching up processes, it identifies important similarities across countries despite variations in historical context and local conditions. Each country struggled to achieve an effective integration of academic institutions into the industrial development process. This task was particularly difficult when industry needs were poorly articulated or neglected by the evolution of educational curricula.

Hali tarjima qilinmagan