No 2008/13 RIS and Developing Countries

Linking firm technological capabilities to regional systems of innovation

Abstract

This chapter explores the role of regional innovation systems supporting capability building among indigenous SMEs in two different RIS in Mexico. It explicitly attempts at testing the validity of the underlying assumptions in RIS literature in the context of developing countries, such as the importance of interactive learning with foreign subsidiaries, universities and research centers or among firms in the system of innovation. Empirically, it proposes a new method for comparing capabilities at organizational and system level. The paper shows that regional innovation systems in developing countries share central characteristics with RIS in developed countries and, in that respect, the approach is valid for the analysis of RIS in developing countries. The analysis also highlights the importance of local conditions for catching-up and development. The same industry in the same country might perform very differently depending on the characteristics of local systems.