Title
Regionalizing innovation strategies in Peru based on smart specialization: implications and challenges
Date Issued
01 January 2021
Access level
metadata only access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Masana R.E.
Publisher(s)
Routledge
Abstract
The article builds on the case study of Piura (Peru) to analyse the implications of developing an innovation policy strategy based on decentralization and the concept of smart specialization strategy in emerging economies with limited institutional capacity and low rates of innovation activity. Two main conclusions from the case are derived: regional innovation policy can usefully serve as a catalyst to foster dynamism among stakeholders, enlarging the potential for research and innovation, but it requires a capacity-building process; and specialization must be understood as an inclusive concept where agents undertake inclusive innovation projects based on their territorial challenges and comparative advantages.
Start page
1194
End page
1208
Volume
55
Issue
7
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Sociología
Economía
Negocios, Administración
Subjects
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85100572942
Source
Regional Studies
ISSN of the container
00343404
Sponsor(s)
Authors thank Yevgeny Kuznetsov (Migration Policy Institute), Marcelino Cabrera (DG JRC, European Commission) and Marco Salazar (CONCYTEC, Government of Peru) for their insights and collaboration.
Two potential ways to start implementing the strategy – even if there are large limitations – are those that have been considered in Piura and which are based on aligning the existing resources to the strategy’s logic. The first involves using the existing instruments (mostly national) and aims at aligning the projects that are being funded by them to the strategy. For instance, when a university wants to present a project to request a grant under a call for proposals, they could submit one that considers the challenges defined in the strategy; the national government has even considered granting larger punctuations to those projects from regions with strategies such as Piura’s which align their ideas to the priorities that have been identified for that particular territory. The other possibility comes from using funding that does not totally limit the scope of the projects they can fund (for instance, the credits from the IDB) to undertake pilot actions for each instrument. One option being explored is using credit funding from the IDB to implement a project that could have been funded – if the budget existed – under the rural development instrument. Both these measures are just a timid starting point, but it can be a way to ensure that the strategy does actually kick off.
Sources of information:
Directorio de Producción Científica
Scopus