The Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC)

2133  Large

It is widely accepted that innovation is key to economic growth. Countries where research and innovation are high on the national agenda are best suited to prosper in the knowledge-based economy. Conversely, countries whose economies are mainly dependent on natural resources and basic industries tend to lack competitiveness and flexibility in adapting to changing global trends. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has long been concerned with the measurement of research and experimental development (R&D) and innovation activities.

Under apartheid rule South Africa was barred from participating in OECD activities. Shortly after the advent of democracy in South Africa in 1994 the Department of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology (now the Department of Science and Technology) initiated the process of applying for observer status on the OECD Committee for Scientific and Technological Policy. South Africa gained observer status in 1998.

In March 2001, the Department of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology and the OECD jointly hosted an international seminar in Pretoria on the measurement of innovation activities in OECD and non-OECD countries. This book is a collection of selected papers that were presented at the seminar by leading international and South African experts in innovation measurement. The chapters reflect various aspects of the measurement of innovation and how these measurements are applied in different countries. The volume contributes to the debate that exists between developing and developed countries on their approaches to the measurement of innovation.

Open Access

Product information

Format : 297mm x 210mm
Pages : 400
ISBN 10 : 0-7969-2062-1
ISBN 13 : 978-07969-2062-1
Publish Year : 2006

Introduction

Part 1 Theoretical foundation of innovation surveys

Chapter 1: The conceptual fluidity of national innovation systems: Implications for innovation measures
Mario Scerri

Chapter 2: Innovation systems in emerging and developing economies
Jean-Eric Aubert

Chapter 3: Developing the linkage between policy and innovation measurement
Brian Sloan

Chapter 4: Counting the seeds of innovation: The assessment of technological creativity
Christiaan Redelinghuys

Chapter 5: Mapping and measuring: A holistic approach to auditing innovation
Victor Ross and Anton Kleingeld

Chapter 6: Macroeconomic measures for the return on investment in innovation
David Walwyn

Part 2 Approaches to measuring innovation in regions and countries

Chapter 7: Innovation surveys: Lessons from the experiences of OECD countries
Dominique Guellec and Bill Pattinson

Chapter 8: Using the Oslo methodology to measure innovation: The Community Innovation Survey approach
Frank Foyn

Chapter 9: Closing the gaps in systems of innovation research: How to improve the measurement of innovation finance by the Community Innovation Surveys
Ilian Petkov Iliev

Chapter 10: An overview of Latin American innovation surveys
Guillermo Anll

Chapter 11: The Bogot Manual: Standardising innovation indicators for Latin America and the Caribbean
Gustavo Lugones

Chapter 12: Innovation indicators within sub-Saharan Africa: A specific case for Tanzania
Bitrina Diyamett and Samuel Wangwe

Chapter 13: Innovation surveys in Central and Eastern Europe: Results and policy issues
Slavo Radosevic

Chapter 14: South Africas first survey of innovation in the manufacturing sector and recommendations for the next survey
William Blankley and David Kaplan

Chapter 15: Research design for the South African Innovation Survey 2001
Leon Oerlemans, Andr Buys and Marthinus Pretorius

Chapter 16: Estimating disparities, complementarities and gaps between regions and countries: The case of China and its provinces in 1993
Chris de Bresson, Xu Shiqing and Pierre Mohnen

Part 3 Approaches to measuring innovation in sectors

Chapter 17: Key drivers in technologically excellent organizations: A suite of indicators, trends and interpretations
Roy Marcus and Janie Basson

Chapter 18: Understanding technology and economic development in South African industry: The case of the plastics sector
Simon Roberts

Chapter 19: Attempts to survey innovation in the Hungarian service sector
Annamria Inzelt

List of contributors

William Blankley is Director in the Knowledge Management research programme of the HSRC. He holds a MSc (with distinction) from the University of Cape Town (UCT) and an MBA degree from the Graduate School of Business, UCT. Before joining the HSRC William worked as Manager of the Strategic Advice Unit of the National Research Foundation where he was involved in research, reporting and advising on a wide variety of issues in science and technology and the national system of innovation.

Dr Neo Molotja is a Senior Researcher in the Knowledge Management research programme of the HSRC. She holds PhD in Biochemistry, with a focus on biophysics, from the University of Cape Town. Before joining the HSRC, Neo trained as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Cape Town and the Instituto di Studi Chimico-Fisici di Macromolecole Sintetiche e Naturali (IMAG-CNR) in Italy.

Professor Mario Scerri is Dean of the Faculty of Economic Sciences at the Tshwane University of Technology in South Africa and a senior research fellow in the institute for Economic Research on Innovation.

Mr Imraan Saloojee is the Manager for Science and Technology for Economic Impact in the national Department of Science and Technology, South Africa

Share this

You might also consider these related books

2302  Large

The development of competition law and economics in South Africa

This is an important and timely contribution to the rapidly growing field of competition law in South Africa. While the South African competition authorities have established an enviable local and international profile for their work, there is a need for critical evaluation of the developments in this field since the Competition Act came into force in 1999. This book meets this need.

Open Access

Product information

Format : 235mm x 168mm (Soft Cover)
Pages : 256
ISBN 10 : 978-07969-2404-9
ISBN 13 : 978-07969-2404-9
Publish Year : 2013
Rights : World Rights
Price R 280.00
2177  Large

Earnings inequality in South Africa 19952003

It is generally accepted that the gap between the earnings of unskilled and semi-skilled workers on the one hand, and skilled and highly skilled workers, on the other, narrowed in South Africa during the 1970s and 1980s. This paper investigates whether the gap between the real earnings of highly skilled and low-skilled workers in the formal sector of the South African economy continued to narrow after this countrys transition to democracy.

Open Access

Product information

Format : 210mm x 297mm
Pages : 44
ISBN 10 : 0-7969-2173-3
ISBN 13 : 978-07969-2173-4
Publish Year : 2006
Price R 105.00
2047  Large

A Socio-economic Atlas of South Africa
A demographic, socio-economic and cultural profile of South Africa

Based on the 1991 census, this atlas presents a set of demographic, socio-economic and cultural profiles of South Africa. The atlas contains chapters on: demography and housing, labour and employment, education, economic and human development, language and religion.

Product information

Format : 208mm x 300mm
Pages : 272
ISBN 10 : 0-7969-1786-8
ISBN 13 : 978-07969-1786-7
Publish Year : 1996
Price R 220.00
2145  Large

Trade Unions and Democracy
COSATU workers political attitudes in South Africa

This title analyses the results of a survey of the political attitudes of members of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) undertaken in the run up to South Africas third democratic general election in 2004. The survey was the third in a series, two previous ones having been conducted by some of the authors writing in the present collection before the elections of 1994 and 1999. The results of all three surveys are presented in an appendix, and taken together constitute a unique data base whose interpretation makes a major contribution to our understanding of contemporary South African history, notably with regard to how and why COSATU has become a major political actor within the tripartite alliance which links it to the ruling African National Congress and the South African Communist Party.

Open Access

Product information

Format : 148mm x 210mm
Pages : 262
ISBN 10 : 0-7969-2127-7
ISBN 13 : 978-07969-2127-7
Publish Year : 2006
Price R 231.00