Vínculos entre los sistemas regionales de innovación y el desarrollo económico provincial en Argentina: análisis exploratorio del periodo 2003-2013

Abstract

The regional innovation systems (RIS) approach recognizes the role of knowledge, innovation and learning as determinants of economic development, but empirical studies do not usually analyze the relationships between them and even less in the case of Argentina, where there are several limitations regarding the availability of regional indicators.Therefore, in this articlewe made theeffort to build a database for the period 2003-2013 that allows us,on the one hand, to update and approximate the GDP percapita for allprovinces, asa traditional proxy of economic development,and on the other hand, to provide a broad approach about the reality of the different RIS, throughthe elaboration of the Provincial Innovation System Index (PISI) and different sub-indices.The exploratory study of the links between both dimensions seems to support the existence of a positive relationship between the performance of the RIS, both from the angle of the PISI and its subdimensions, and provincial economic development. From a territorial perspective, the northern provinces show a very unfavorable situation in both dimensions,while much of the centraland patagonian provinces have better conditions. This diagnosis could open new debates about the specific problems and needs of public policies inthe different RISin Argentina, with a view to the promotion of a more equitable development