IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/oup/cambje/v41y2017i3p905-926..html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Capabilities, economic development, sustainability

Author

Listed:
  • Jan Fagerberg
  • Martin Srholec

Abstract

The capability concept is commonly used in analyses of firms; however, as this paper shows, it may also be used at the level of nations. Factor analysis is used on a broad set of relevant indicators to derive composite measures of national technological and social capabilities. The data cover 114 countries worldwide on different levels of development for the period 1995–2013. The paper then analyses the relationships between these capability measures and economic development, defined in various ways, and controlling for other relevant factors. The results suggest that improving national technological and social capability is a must for achieving (sustainable) economic development and improving living conditions.

Suggested Citation

  • Jan Fagerberg & Martin Srholec, 2017. "Capabilities, economic development, sustainability," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 41(3), pages 905-926.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:cambje:v:41:y:2017:i:3:p:905-926.
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/cje/bew061
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jan Fagerberg & Bart Verspagen & G. N. von Tunzelmann (ed.), 1994. "The Dynamics Of Technology, Trade And Growth," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 163.
    2. Fagerberg, Jan & Srholec, Martin & Knell, Mark, 2007. "The Competitiveness of Nations: Why Some Countries Prosper While Others Fall Behind," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 35(10), pages 1595-1620, October.
    3. Milanovic, Branko, 2009. "Global inequality recalculated : the effect of new 2005 PPP estimates on global inequality," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5061, The World Bank.
    4. Kim, Linsu, 1980. "Stages of development of industrial technology in a developing country: A model," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 9(3), pages 254-277, July.
    5. Robert M. Solow, 1956. "A Contribution to the Theory of Economic Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 70(1), pages 65-94.
    6. Fagerberg, Jan, 1987. "A technology gap approach to why growth rates differ," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 16(2-4), pages 87-99, August.
    7. Jan Fagerberg & Martin Srholec, 2009. "Innovation Systems, Technology and Development: Unpacking the Relationships," Chapters, in: Bengt-Åke Lundvall & K. J. Joseph & Cristina Chaminade & Jan Vang (ed.), Handbook of Innovation Systems and Developing Countries, chapter 4, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    8. Lall, Sanjaya, 1992. "Technological capabilities and industrialization," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 20(2), pages 165-186, February.
    9. Jan Fagerberg & Martin Srholec, 2005. "Catching up: What are the Critical Factors for success?," Working Papers on Innovation Studies 20050401, Centre for Technology, Innovation and Culture, University of Oslo.
    10. Robert J. Barro, 1991. "Economic Growth in a Cross Section of Countries," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 106(2), pages 407-443.
    11. Jan Fagerberg & Martin Srholec, 2017. "Global Dynamics, Capabilities and the Crisis," Economic Complexity and Evolution, in: Andreas Pyka & Uwe Cantner (ed.), Foundations of Economic Change, pages 83-106, Springer.
    12. Bengt-Åke Lundvall & K. J. Joseph & Cristina Chaminade & Jan Vang (ed.), 2009. "Handbook of Innovation Systems and Developing Countries," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 12943.
    13. Castellacci, Fulvio & Natera, Jose Miguel, 2011. "A new panel dataset for cross-country analyses of national systems, growth and development (CANA)," MPRA Paper 28376, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. World Bank, 2015. "World Development Indicators 2015," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 21634.
    15. Bronwyn H. Hall & Nathan Rosenberg (ed.), 2010. "Handbook of the Economics of Innovation," Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 1, number 1.
    16. Abramovitz, Moses, 1986. "Catching Up, Forging Ahead, and Falling Behind," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 46(2), pages 385-406, June.
    17. Veblen, Thorstein, 1915. "Imperial Germany and The Industrial Revolution," History of Economic Thought Books, McMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought, number veblen1915.
    18. Cimoli, Mario & Dosi, Giovanni & Stiglitz, Joseph E. (ed.), 2009. "Industrial Policy and Development: The Political Economy of Capabilities Accumulation," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199235278.
    19. Barro, Robert J. & Lee, Jong Wha, 2013. "A new data set of educational attainment in the world, 1950–2010," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 184-198.
    20. Jonathan Temple & Paul A. Johnson, 1998. "Social Capability and Economic Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 113(3), pages 965-990.
    21. Soete, Luc & Verspagen, Bart & ter Weel, Bas, 2010. "Systems of Innovation," Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, in: Bronwyn H. Hall & Nathan Rosenberg (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 1159-1180, Elsevier.
    22. Fagerberg, Jan, 1996. "Technology and Competitiveness," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 12(3), pages 39-51, Autumn.
    23. Sharif, Naubahar, 2006. "Emergence and development of the National Innovation Systems concept," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(5), pages 745-766, June.
    24. Martin Srholec & Bart Verspagen, 2012. "The Voyage of the Beagle into innovation: explorations on heterogeneity, selection, and sectors," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 21(5), pages 1221-1253, October.
    25. Sanjaya Lall, 1987. "Learning to Industrialize," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-1-349-18798-0, October.
    26. Fagerberg, Jan & Srholec, Martin, 2008. "National innovation systems, capabilities and economic development," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(9), pages 1417-1435, October.
    27. Cornwall, John, 1976. "Diffusion, Convergence and Kaldor's Laws," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 86(342), pages 307-314, June.
    28. Fagerberg, Jan & Srholec, Martin & Verspagen, Bart, 2010. "Innovation and Economic Development," Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, in: Bronwyn H. Hall & Nathan Rosenberg (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 833-872, Elsevier.
    29. Lawson, Clive, 1999. "Towards a Competence Theory of the Region," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 23(2), pages 151-166, March.
    30. Easterly, William, 2001. "The Lost Decades: Developing Countries' Stagnation in Spite of Policy Reform 1980-1998," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 6(2), pages 135-157, June.
    31. Irma Adelman & Cynthia Taft Morris, 1965. "A Factor Analysis of The Interrelationship Between Social and Political Variables and Per Capita Gross Naitonal Product," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 79(4), pages 555-578.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jan Fagerberg & Bengt-Åke Lundvall & Martin Srholec, 2018. "Global Value Chains, National Innovation Systems and Economic Development," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 30(3), pages 533-556, July.
    2. Giorgio Prodi & Federico Frattini & Francesco Nicolli, 2018. "The diffusion and embeddedness of innovative activities in China," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 35(1), pages 71-106, April.
    3. José Manuel Otero-López & María José Santiago & María Cristina Castro, 2021. "Life Aspirations, Generativity and Compulsive Buying in University Students," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(15), pages 1-15, July.
    4. Obiamaka A. Nwobu & Collins C. Ngwakwe, 2020. "Corporate Responsibility Reporting in Africa: The Effect of Macroeconomic Indicators and Political Regime," Asian Economic and Financial Review, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 10(10), pages 1203-1219, October.
    5. Yunjie Liu & Qiang Jin & Bo Wen & Zhibao Huo & Yuanhang Zhu & Minghai Zhang & Zhili Wang & Aidang Shan, 2020. "The economic and environmental assessment on production stage of quayside crane," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 22(4), pages 2759-2778, April.
    6. Angelica Sbardella & Andrea Zaccaria & Luciano Pietronero & Pasquale Scaramozzino, 2021. "Behind the Italian Regional Divide: An Economic Fitness and Complexity Perspective," LEM Papers Series 2021/30, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.
    7. Angelica Sbardella & Emanuele Pugliese & Andrea Zaccaria & Pasquale Scaramozzino, 2018. "The role of complex analysis in modeling economic growth," Papers 1808.10428, arXiv.org.
    8. Delera, Michele & Pietrobelli, Carlo & Calza, Elisa & Lavopa, Alejandro, 2022. "Does value chain participation facilitate the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies in developing countries?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    9. Weko, Silvia & Goldthau, Andreas, 2022. "Bridging the low-carbon technology gap? Assessing energy initiatives for the Global South," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    10. IJACHI IJACHI & Uwuigbe Uwalomwa & STEPHEN OJEKA & OPEYEMI AJETUNMOBI & SIMON ILOGHO, 2020. "The Impact Of Foreign Aid On Sustainable Development In Nigeria: An Environmentally Adjusted Human Development Index Approach," Proceedings of Business and Management Conferences 10112630, International Institute of Social and Economic Sciences.
    11. Elvis Korku Avenyo & Fiona Tregenna & Erika Kraemer-Mbula, 2021. "Do Productive Capabilities Affect Export Performance? Evidence from African Firms," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 33(2), pages 304-329, April.
    12. Palmaccio, Matteo & Dicuonzo, Grazia & Belyaeva, Zhanna S., 2021. "The internet of things and corporate business models: A systematic literature review," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 610-618.
    13. IAIANI, Matteo & TUGNOLI, Alessandro & BONVICINI, Sarah & COZZANI, Valerio, 2021. "Analysis of Cybersecurity-related Incidents in the Process Industry," Reliability Engineering and System Safety, Elsevier, vol. 209(C).
    14. Khan, Muhammad Salar, 2022. "Absorptive capacities and economic growth in low- and middle-income economies," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 156-188.
    15. Brown, Austin L. & Fleming, Kelly L. & Lipman, Timothy & Fulton, Lew & Saphores, Jean Daniel & Tal, Gil & Murphy, Colin W & Shaheen, Susan & Austin, Bernadette & Garcia Sanchez, Juan Carlos & Martin, , 2020. "Carbon Neutrality Study 1:Driving California’s Transportation Emissions to Zero," Institute of Transportation Studies, Working Paper Series qt5zb1238j, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Davis.
    16. Areti Gkypali & Kostas Kounetas & Kostas Tsekouras, 2019. "European countries’ competitiveness and productive performance evolution: unraveling the complexity in a heterogeneity context," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 29(2), pages 665-695, April.
    17. Janina Ribelienė & Jūratė Macijauskienė & Rasa Tamelienė & Aušrelė Kudrevičienė & Irena Nedzelskienė & Aurelija Blaževičienė, 2022. "Factors Relating to a Safety Culture in the University Perinatal Center: The Nurses’ and Midwives’ Perspective," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(16), pages 1-10, August.
    18. Carlos Bianchi & Pablo Galaso & Sergio Palomeque, 2023. "Knowledge complexity and brokerage in inter-city networks," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 48(5), pages 1773-1799, October.
    19. Lapinskaitė Indrė & Vidžiūnaitė Silvija, 2020. "Assessment of the Sustainable Economic Development Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth in G20 Countries," Economics and Culture, Sciendo, vol. 17(1), pages 116-125, June.
    20. Palacio, Andrés, 2018. "The Social Capability Index and Income Convergence," Lund Papers in Economic History 184, Lund University, Department of Economic History.
    21. Andrzej Cieślik & Jan Jakub Michałek & Krzysztof Szczygielski & Jacek Lewkowicz & Jerzy Mycielski, 2021. "Foreign Ownership and Within-MNEs GVC Participation as Determinants of Innovation Activities: A CIS-Based Firm-Level Analysis," Central European Journal of Economic Modelling and Econometrics, Central European Journal of Economic Modelling and Econometrics, vol. 13(2), pages 189-211, June.
    22. Saad, Suhaila & Mohamed Nor, Norashidah, 2018. "Health Expenditure and Economic Development in Low-and Middle-Income Countries," Jurnal Ekonomi Malaysia, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, vol. 52(3), pages 181-189.
    23. Fakhimi, MohammadAmin & Miremadi, Iman, 2022. "The impact of technological and social capabilities on innovation performance: a technological catch-up perspective," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    24. Falciola, Justine & Jansen, Marion & Rollo, Valentina, 2020. "Defining firm competitiveness: A multidimensional framework," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Fagerberg , Jan & Srholec , Martin, 2015. "Capabilities, Competitiveness, Nations," Papers in Innovation Studies 2015/2, Lund University, CIRCLE - Centre for Innovation Research.
    2. Fagerberg, Jan & Srholec, Martin & Verspagen, Bart, 2010. "Innovation and Economic Development," Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, in: Bronwyn H. Hall & Nathan Rosenberg (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 833-872, Elsevier.
    3. Jan Fagerberg & Bengt-Åke Lundvall & Martin Srholec, 2018. "Global Value Chains, National Innovation Systems and Economic Development," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 30(3), pages 533-556, July.
    4. Jan Fagerberg & Martin Srholec, 2017. "Global Dynamics, Capabilities and the Crisis," Economic Complexity and Evolution, in: Andreas Pyka & Uwe Cantner (ed.), Foundations of Economic Change, pages 83-106, Springer.
    5. Jan Fagerberg, 2010. "The Changing Global Economic Landscape: The Factors that Matter," Chapters, in: Robert M. Solow & Jean-Philippe Touffut (ed.), The Shape of the Division of Labour, chapter 1, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    6. Fagerberg, Jan & Srholec, Martin, 2008. "National innovation systems, capabilities and economic development," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(9), pages 1417-1435, October.
    7. Jan Fagerberg & Maryann Feldman & Martin Srholec, 2011. "Technological Dynamics and Social Capability: Comparing U.S. States and European Nations," Working Papers on Innovation Studies 20111114, Centre for Technology, Innovation and Culture, University of Oslo.
    8. Jan Fagerberg & Martin Srholec, 2005. "Catching up: What are the Critical Factors for success?," Working Papers on Innovation Studies 20050401, Centre for Technology, Innovation and Culture, University of Oslo.
    9. Jan Fagerberg & Maryann P. Feldman & Martin Srholec, 2014. "Technological dynamics and social capability: US states and European nations," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 14(2), pages 313-337.
    10. Martin Srholec, 2011. "A multilevel analysis of innovation in developing countries ," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 20(6), pages 1539-1569, December.
    11. Fagerberg, Jan & Srholec, Martin & Knell, Mark, 2007. "The Competitiveness of Nations: Why Some Countries Prosper While Others Fall Behind," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 35(10), pages 1595-1620, October.
    12. Jan Fagerberg & Martin Srholec, 2017. "Explaining regional economic performance: the role of competitiveness, specialization and capabilities," Chapters, in: Robert Huggins & Piers Thompson (ed.), Handbook of Regions and Competitiveness, chapter 5, pages 117-135, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    13. Monika Kondratiuk-Nierodziñska, 2016. "New Knowledge Generation Capabilities And Economic Performance Of Polish Regions," Equilibrium. Quarterly Journal of Economics and Economic Policy, Institute of Economic Research, vol. 11(3), pages 451-471, September.
    14. Dutrénit, Gabriela & Natera, José Miguel & Puchet Anyul, Martín & Vera-Cruz, Alexandre O., 2019. "Development profiles and accumulation of technological capabilities in Latin America," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 396-412.
    15. Castellacci, Fulvio & Natera, Jose Miguel, 2013. "The dynamics of national innovation systems: A panel cointegration analysis of the coevolution between innovative capability and absorptive capacity," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 579-594.
    16. Jan Fagerberg & Bart Verspagen, 2007. "Innovation, growth and economic development: have the conditions for catch-up changed?," International Journal of Technological Learning, Innovation and Development, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 1(1), pages 13-33.
    17. Nuvolari, Alessandro & Vasta, Michelangelo, 2015. "The Ghost in the Attic? The Italian National Innovation System in Historical Perspective, 1861–2011," Enterprise & Society, Cambridge University Press, vol. 16(2), pages 270-290, June.
    18. Khan, Muhammad Salar, 2022. "Absorptive capacities and economic growth in low- and middle-income economies," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 156-188.
    19. Fulvio Castellacci, 2007. "Evolutionary And New Growth Theories. Are They Converging?," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(3), pages 585-627, July.
    20. Souzanchi Kashani, Ebrahim & Radosevic, Slavo & Kiamehr, Mehdi & Gholizadeh, Hossein, 2022. "The intellectual evolution of the technological catch-up literature: Bibliometric analysis," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(7).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:oup:cambje:v:41:y:2017:i:3:p:905-926.. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Oxford University Press (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://academic.oup.com/cje .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.