Science, Technology and Innovation Policies in Latin America and the Caribbean During the Past Six Decades

Abstract

We present a review of the science, technology and innovation (STI) policies applied in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) between 1945 and 2010. We show the long term evolution of economic and social indicators in correspondence with STI input and output indicators. We describe the role of the Regional Bureau for Science of UNESCO for LAC during this period. A description of the institutional behavior of STI governing bodies at LAC countries over 65 years is presented. We introduce strong evidences for the existence of a long-wave behavior expressed by two techno-economic paradigms for the organization of STI policies in the region.The first one is associated with the linear model of science proposed by V. Bush while the second one is associated with the 1999 World Conference of Science Framework for Action. We analyze the recent cooperation strategies related with STI policies in LAC.

Keywords: research, innovation, indicators, techno-economic paradigms, science, technology, Latin America and the Caribbean, UNESCO

JEL Classification: O10, O21, O31, O32, O33, O34, O38, N86, C42, I28, I30, L16, N36, Q16