The Role of Regional Innovation Systems (RIS) in Translating R&D Investments into Economic and Employment Growth

Ricardo Filipe Ferreira Moutinho; Manuel Au-Yong-Oliveira; Arnaldo Coelho; José Pires Manso

doi:10.4067/S0718-27242015000200002

Authors

Ricardo Filipe Ferreira Moutinho Department of Business and Economics, University of Beira Interior, Estrada do Sineiro, 6200-209, Covilhã.
Manuel Au-Yong-Oliveira Department of Economics, Management and Industrial Engineering, University of Aveiro, Aveiro.
Arnaldo Coelho Faculty of Economics, University of Coimbra, Coimbra
José Pires Manso Department of Business and Economics, University of Beira Interior, Estrada do Sineiro, 6200-209 Covilhã.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4067/S0718-27242015000200002

Abstract

The emergence of the so-called “European Paradox” shows that increasing Governmental R&D Investment is far from being a ‘panacea’ for stagnant growth. It is worth noting that Governmental R&D Investment does not have a statistically significant impact on employment, indicating the need to assess the trade-offs of policies that could lead to significant increases in government expenditure. Surprisingly, Governmental R&D Employment does not contribute to ‘mass-market’ employment, despite its quite important role in reducing Youth-Unemployment. Despite the negative side-effects of Governmental R&D Employment on both GVA and GDP, University R&D Employment appears to have a quite important role in reducing Unemployment, especially Youth-Unemployment, while it also does not have a downside in terms of economic growth. Technological Capacity enhancement is the most effective instrument for reducing Unemployment and is a policy without any downside regarding sustainable economic development.

Keywords:

innovation management
regional innovation systems
economic policy
R&D policy

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Author Biographies

Ricardo Filipe Ferreira Moutinho, Department of Business and Economics, University of Beira Interior, Estrada do Sineiro, 6200-209, Covilhã.

Ricardo Moutinho is a Research Associate in the Department of Business and Economics at University of Beira Interior. His areas of research interest include innovation policies, management of innovation and technology, regional innovation systems, economic geography, cohesion policies for economically peripheral and low density areas, rural development policies, EU funding strategies for research and technological development and governance models at the European scale.

Manuel Au-Yong-Oliveira, Department of Economics, Management and Industrial Engineering, University of Aveiro, Aveiro.

Manuel Au-Yong-Oliveira is an Assistant Professor at the University of Aveiro where he lectures on Marketing and Strategy and Competitiveness. Before becoming an academic, Manuel worked for several multinational companies, namely Accenture, Worthington Cylinders, and Waterco Europe. Manuel has published articles in international journals and conferences in a number of different areas, including on innovation, entrepreneurship, technology, and marketing.

Arnaldo Coelho, Faculty of Economics, University of Coimbra, Coimbra

Arnaldo Coelho is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Economics at University of Coimbra. Arnaldo is simultaneously a Research Associate in the Research Unit NECE at University of Beira Interior. His research interests are entrepreneurship, competitiveness and innovation. He is active as a policy advisor to governments and corporations.

José Pires Manso, Department of Business and Economics, University of Beira Interior, Estrada do Sineiro, 6200-209 Covilhã.

José Pires Manso is a Full Professor in the Department of Business and Economics at University of Beira Interior. José has over forty years of experience in the fields of applied economics, industrial economics, general econometrics, financial econometrics, time series econometrics, energy economics, energy econometrics, tourism economics, forecasting methods and techniques. His research interests are regional and rural development, social development and energy policy.