Anthem Press BRICS and Development Alternatives: Innovation Systems and Policies: 2 (The Anthem-European Union Series, 1)

The BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) are currently at the crossroads of major structural economic and political changes. This book provides a comparative analysis of the national innovation systems of the five BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) and the trends in each of their science, technology and innovation policies. It makes use of an analytical framework, the concept 'systems of innovation and competence building' developed within 'Globelics' (the Global Research Network on the Economics of Learning, Innovation and Capacity Building Systems). Book Description Presents research findings from the BRICS Project, a comparative analysis of the innovation systems of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. About the Author José Eduardo Cassiolato is Coordinator of RedeSist and Professor at the Institute of Economics, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He is also a member of Globelics Scientific Committee – a Global Research Network on the Economics of Learning, Innovation and Competence. Virginia Vitorino is policy officer at the European Commission, Directorate-General for Research, International Cooperation Directorate. Bengt-Åke Lundvall is Professor in Economics at the University of Aalborg. He has worked on science and technology issues in relation to employment and international competitiveness and currently concentrates on innovation theory, national systems of innovation and competence building and on the analysis of the economics of knowledge. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. BRICS and Development Alternatives: Innovation Systems and Policies By José Eduardo Cassiolato, Virgínia Vitorino Wimbledon Publishing Company Copyright © 2009 European Communities All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-1-84331-799-9 Contents List of contributors, vii, Preface, xi, Acknowledgements, xiii, Foreword The BRICS Countries and Europe Bengt-Åke Lundvall, xv, 1. Science, Technology and Innovation Policies in the BRICS Countries: an introduction José Eduardo Cassiolato and Helena Maria Martins Lastres, 1, 2. Achievements and Shortcomings of Brazil's Innovation Policies Priscila Koeller and José Eduardo Cassiolato, 35, 3. Prospective Agenda for Science and Technology and Innovation Policies in Russia Leonid Gokhberg, Natalia Gorodnikova, Tatiana Kuznetsova, Alexander Sokolov and Stanislav Zaichenko, 73, 4. Science, Technology and Innovation Policies in India: Achievements and Limits K. J. Joseph and Dinesh Abrol, 101, 5. Science and Technology and Innovation Policy in China Xielin Liu and Jianbing Liu, 133, 6. The South African Innovation Policies: Potential and Constraint Glenda Kruss and Jo Lorentzen, 163, Notes, 191, CHAPTER 1 SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION POLICIES IN THE BRICS COUNTRIES: AN INTRODUCTION José E. Cassiolato and Helena M. M. Lastres 1. Preamble The crisis that has hit the world economy since 2008 has lent support to suggestions put forward previously that a significant share of the growth potential of the world economy resides in a few large less developed countries. Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) have such potential. More than just that, the BRICS countries are thought to have the capacity to 'change the world' on account of both the threats and the opportunities they represent from the economic, social and political points of view. International agencies and analysts suggest that investors should pay careful attention to the opportunities offered by these countries. In such analyses, the focus has been restricted to identifying investment possibilities in the BRICS production structures and examining the prospects offered by their consumer markets. This book is part of a study — the BRICS project — where the interest in analysing the BRICS goes much further. These countries present significant development opportunities, as well