Innovation Policy for Development: An Overview

This presentation on innovation policy development broadens the notion of innovation to include all sorts of "process innovations" and organizational changes. Then it describes innovation and growth in a historical perspective to conclude that innovation policies for development should include much more than just supporting formal R&D projects, more than just in "high tech" sectors. Other topics covered in the presentations include: the economic rationale for government support of innovation and R&D, how to expand spillovers in development economies, key issues in outward vs. locally oriented innovations, general purpose technologies (GPTs), promises and limitations of innovation policies: the case of Israel, how to draw guiding principles for innovation policies, and main levers: skills, incentives, information, finance. This document was presented at the 2005 LAEBA Annual Conference, in Buenos Aires, Argentina