Innovation and business research in Latin America: An overview

Innovation in Latin America is a challenge for achieving development. Several Latin American countries and businesses are attempting to increase innov ation and entrepreneurship but they face substantial challenges and difficulties. Institutional, governmental and business policies and practices need to be enhanced in order to increase such innovation. Increasing business research in Latin America and university-business partnerships is probably key in such endeavor. This special issue provides some evidence regarding these challenges at the company level, industry level, and country level. This issue also includes three cases showing Latin American company experiences with financial, marketing and new product innovations and market changes.     

Innovation and Development: The Evidence From Innovation Surveys

In this article we investigate the existing evidence on innovation produced by innovation surveys in developing and emerging countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America. We review the relevant literature, discuss methodological issues, and analyze the results for the countries with the most comparable surveys, considering the well-established findings of innovation surveys for Europe as a benchmark. From the evidence we considered, regional patterns are identified and some stylized facts on innovation and development are proposed, pointing out the specificity of innovation processes in economies engaged in industrialization and catching up.     

研发国际化趋势下我国技术创新模式的选择

技术创新能力一直是制约发展中国家经济增长和提升企业国际竞争力的关键因素。目前绝大多数发展中国家都在尝试通过吸引跨国公司研发投资来实现自身的技术跨越式发展。然而，跨国公司的研发国际化对东道国技术创新是一把“双刃剑”，选择怎样的技术创新模式来实现东道国利益的最大化就成为重要的研究课题。本文认为，在研发国际化趋势下我国应采取自主创新为主、模仿与合作创新为辅的组合模式。     

Eu widening to the East: Must latin America be concerned?

The pending widening of the European Union to the East has revived concerns in Latin America that its trade and foreign direct investment relations with the EU may suffer as a result. Trade patterns suggest, however, that Latin America's exports to the EU are complementary to the exports of Central and Eastern European countries and the new investment opportunities in Central and Eastern Europe appear to be inducing additional foreign direct investment, rather than causing its diversion.     

Consequences of southward enlargement for EC-Latin American relations

Over the past two decades Latin America, due to both political and economic considerations, has been endeavouring to establish intensive cooperative relations with the European Community. For a variety of reasons this objective has so far only been achieved in part. The Falklands/Malvinas conflict subjected these relations to a serious strain, the results of which cannot as yet be estimated. Another factor, in the longer term, is the European Community's southward enlargement. Latin American assessments of the effects of this diverge: a fear of serious disadvantages to trade on the one hand is matched on the other by the hope that Spain and Portugal will become champions of Latin American interests in the European Community.     

产业集群与技术创新的耦合机理分析

本文认为,产业集群是新经济时代企业提高技术创新能力的基础;产业集群与技术创新通过各自的耦合元素相互作用,彼此影响,主要表现为产业集群与技术创新激励效应的耦合,与技术创新网络的耦合,与技术创新文化氛围的耦合,与技术创新服务体系的耦合,与技术创新人才资源的耦合,与技术创新政府体制的耦合。文章提出,产业集群应以具有较强科技创新能力的科技开发中心为核心,构建有效的科技创新平台,形成良好的区域创新体系,引导与带动产业集群中企业的科技创新能力,促进产业集群的发展,同时建立科技创新与产业集群互动发展的有效机制,实现经济与科技互动的良好局面。     

TRADE AND TECHNOLOGY DIFFUSION IN LATIN AMERICA

The main objective of this article is to measure the extent to which technology is diffused via international trade from industrial countries to Latin America. It also assesses the role that international trade within the region plays in this process of technology diffusion. The estimates suggest the existence of trade-related technology diffusion from the North. The results are robust for different specifications of the model. Evidence is also found suggesting that trade among the Latin American countries serves as an additional mechanism by which the technology from the industrial countries is indirectly diffused across the region.     

Internationalizing Business Education in Latin America: Issues and Challenges

This article examines the extent of internationalization of business education in Latin America and identifies the key challenges facing the Latin American business schools. Based on a survey of the business schools that are members of CLADEA (Consejo Latinoamericano de Escuelas de Administracion—Latin American Council of Management Schools), and also from available information from various public sources and the literature, this study finds that most Latin American universities recognize the importance of internationalization of curricula and have undertaken measures to provide a business education that creates a global awareness among students and sensitizes them to differences across countries. The study also identifies the areas that need further attention and resources for widening the extent of internationalization of business education in Latin America and recommends ways to address these challenges.     

Intra-Industry Trade in Latin America and the Caribbean

An increasingly important component of total world trade is intra-industry trade (IIT). The large volume of literature on IIT is reflective of this importance. However, this extensive literature has focused almost completely on explaining the causes of IIT. This focus has left a puzzling gap in the literature. Specifically, it is almost impossible to determine the level of IIT for a particular country or region. Further, there is almost no information on the level of IIT at the industry level either globally or for a region or country. In this article we provide estimates of IIT for the world and for the countries of the Western Hemisphere. Further, we provide estimates of IIT for ten different SITC product categories on the same basis. The findings of the article indicate that in most industries, IIT in Latin America is substantially lower overall than the world average. There are, however, substantial variations observed both by country and by industry. Because the results are the first available for the region as a whole, they should allow researchers to get a better picture of the extent of IIT in Latin America and the Caribbean by country and by industry.     

深化睦邻互信促进东北亚各国共同发展

本文认为,东北亚各国在政治上应相互尊重,共同协商;在经济上应相互促进,共同发展;在文化上应相互借鉴,共同繁荣;在安全上应相互信任,共享和平。文章提出了东北亚地区各国睦邻合作的五点建议:一是继续深化睦邻友好;二是大力拓宽经贸合作;三是积极推进金融合作;四是发展中小企业集群;五是建立物流合作网络。本文还指出,要从四个方面重点推进区域合作,为最终实现东北亚自由贸易区奠定坚实的基础。第一,持续推进图门江区域项目合作计划;第二,抓住振兴东北老工业基地的发展机遇,促进东北亚地区经济结构调整和发展;第三,共同解决东北亚地区的能源安全问题;第四,逐步改善各国贸易商品结构。     

本土技术创新、外国技术溢出与我国制造业贸易竞争优势互动性的实证分析

技术创新与国际贸易之间存在着一种互动关系,在开放经济系统中,一国技术创新能力的提高不仅取决于本土技术研发,也受到外国技术溢出的影响。通过实证分析得出:改革开放以来,我国本土技术研发与贸易竞争优势间形成了良性的正向互动关系,但外国技术溢出却与我国制造业贸易竞争优势的形成有明显的双向负面关系。     

Sustainable banking in Latin American developing countries: Leading to (mutual) prosperity

This article examines multinational banks’ (MNBs) approaches to corporate social responsibility (CSR) in developing countries’ subsidiaries, particularly in Latin America. Building on in-depth case studies of two MNBs that are based in Europe and market leaders in Latin America, we analyze their CSR motivations and outcomes in host countries. We examine institutional environments by applying the national business system framework, and we suggest missing categories in its financial and educational dimensions. We theorize how institutional necessity determines MNBs' CSR in developing countries. Finally, we examine the CSR outcomes in Latin America, where banks’ responsible conduct has led to major improvements in educational levels and financial inclusion. These improvements alleviate poverty and enhance both country's social wellbeing and MNBs’ legitimacy, leading to mutual prosperity.     

Performance Heterogeneity in Latin America: An Investigation into the Transient Effects of Country of Origin

The heterogeneity of firm performance has been studied from the perspective of factors, including the firm effect, the industry effect, and the country effect. This study emphasizes the importance of country transient effects in light of the volatility present in Latin American countries. Variance decomposition was carried out for the economic and operational performance of five countries in the period from 1998 to 2007. The results show that country effects matter for Latin America, its transient effects increase in periods of higher turbulence, and have a greater effect on a firms' economic performance than on its operational performance.     

Forms of enterprise in 20th century Italy. Boundaries,structures and strategies

Research in this article traces the origins of a not-for-profit financial institution called the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT). SWIFT is a core part of the financial services infrastructure and is widely regarded as the most secure trusted third party network in the world, serving 200 countries with over 8000 users. The analysis focuses on how the design and current state of SWIFT was influenced by its historical origins. In order to ensure widespread compatibility in a sector experiencing asynchronous technological development, legacy Telex specifications had to be accommodated in SWIFT's design. Over time, what began as a closed ‘society’ founded to reduce errors and increase efficiency in interbank payments grew into an industry cooperative supporting an enthusiastic community of practice and transformed into an unexpected network phenomenon. SWIFT achieved such success that it has been accused of being an installed base stifling innovation. In recent years, SWIFT has had to institute new categories of membership in an effort to counter concerns about its bank-dominated governance and it continues to search for ways to meet the requirements of key constituents in the financial supply chain.     

Latin America and the European communities

The Latin American reaction to the Common Market of European industrial countries was from the outset marked by scepticism and criticism. It was only recently that new tendencies have been discerned which can perhaps lead to a partial improvement in the relations between EEC and Latin America.     

长三角一体化科创产业融合发展体系研究

长江三角洲区域一体化发展作为国家战略，亟需尽快完善区域协同创新体系，勇当科技产业创新开路先锋，力争成为全国重要的创新策源地。其中，如何通过创新链和产业链的深度有效融合，加快实现创新科技成果的产业化，汇聚产学研的创新力量，从根本上消除科技经济“两张皮”的问题，是长三角区域夯实自身核心竞争力，代表国家参与国际竞争与合作的有效路径。因此，本文首先就长三角区域各个城市科创产业融合发展情况进行分析。接着以集成电路产业为例，聚焦集成电路产业的科创产业融合态势，对产业基础和优势进行概述，就其产业链的薄弱点进行梳理，同时围绕产业链中的问题，以及今后产业与科技创新发展有效融合的着力点提出建议。最后，针对长三角区域整体科创产业融合发展提出相应的路径模式。     

Origin and consequences of the debt crisis and ways of solving it

In the 1970s Latin America accounted for a high, and constantly increasing, proportion of the total public foreign debt of all developing countries, reaching a share of 35% by the end of the decade. In comparison, Latin America's share of the total GDP of the developing countries is around 20%. The following article explains the specific causes of the debt crisis in Latin America and suggests some ways of overcoming it.     

Comprehending the outward FDI from Latin America and OCED: A comparative perspective

This study examines the determinants of outward foreign direct investment (FDI) from Latin American countries and compares it with their OECD counterparts. Our analysis is based on a sample of 45 countries, 13 from Latin America and 32 from the OECD, over the period 2001–2012. We find that the outward FDI from Latin America is more likely to be located in geographically proximate countries and in countries with similar culture and language than that from their OECD counterparts. We also show that Latin American outward FDI is less likely to be resource seeking. This presumably reflects the rich natural resource endowments and agricultural potential in major Latin American countries. Further, outward FDI from Latin America is more likely to be concentrated in countries with a similar corruption environment than that from their OECD counterparts. This might indicate a broadly similar nature of corruption across Latin America due to shared cultural, political and economic legacies.     

Business Ethics in Latin America

Business ethics is a relatively new topic of academic discussion in Latin America. Corruption and impunity came to be serious moral diseases in the region, probably as a result of a long period of dictatorship in most countries. Low ethical standards in the politics have had deep impact on individuals, organizations and economic systems. Excessive consumption, materialism and selfishness, in contrast with real poverty, have been responsible for a sloppiness in attitudes and principles in many Latin American countries. Even though the majority of the population belongs to the Roman Catholic Church, the lack of education has led people to a dichotomy: faith and business practices are often very distant from each other. Several isolated efforts have been done in order to enhance business ethics through education, publications and professional activities. The relationship business-academia has proved to be an excellent initiative for this objective, mainly in Mexico, Brazil and Peru.     

Collaboration for R&D Projects between the Industry and External Agents: Evidence from Manufacturing Companies in Peru

In this article we use the innovation survey of the manufacturing industry of Peru to identify cooperation behaviors for research and development (R&D) projects among companies and external agents in general. Likewise, we also find cooperation behaviors among the industry and the following external agents: university, technical centers, suppliers, customers, and companies of the same group, competitors, guilds, and consultants. Within the specific agents, the university is considered a cooperation agent for R&D projects. We use the survey of innovation in the manufacturing industry of Peru conducted in 2015, which resulted in 1447 Peruvian companies being surveyed. Evidence was obtained as to the degree of the tie between the industry and external agents for cooperation in R&D projects, giving relevance to variables such as investment, resources, and degree of innovation. Our results show that investment is an important factor for cooperation with external agents. Additionally, companies that have innovated at some point seek to cooperate with external agents. Finally, the importance of the university is demonstrable, thus, companies that invest in R&D seek to cooperate with the university.