Download file 114 KB Texto completo en español More of: Felipe  Larraín Bascuñán

The economic growth of countries is crucially dependent on how the total factor productivity evolves (TFP). In turn, the expansion of TFP is closely related to the investment in research and development (R&D). In this regard, the Chilean economy today exhibits quite meager levels of R&D, that it has not been able to improve despite R&D having been in the public debate and on the government’s list of priorities for many years. Presently, the investment in R&D in Chile represents from 0.6% to 0.7% of the GDP. On the other hand, successful countries like Finland and Korea have levels of R&D exceeding 3% of the GDP.
This article studies the importance of investment in R&D to the future growth and development of the Chilean economy. An analysis is made of the empirical evidence and the actual situation of R&D spending is compared to international experience. The paper focuses on factors such as the level of R&D, the sources of financing (public or private) and the allocation of this spending to basic and applied research. Lastly, several proposals are made, directed at encouraging investment in R&D.