The research paper published by IJSER journal is about A Strategic Approach to Improve Innovation in Less-Developed Country: The Case of Benin 1

ISSN 2229-5518

A Strategic Approach to Improve Innovation in

Less-Developed Country: The Case of Benin

Fabrice Boko, Prof. Qin Yuanjian

AbstractThis paper employs to present a global outlook of Benin experience in terms of economic integration related to innovation an d technology. Throught case study method, we analyze the situation of the country’s economy and technology with slight reference to China by finding out the problem which set back its innovation’s development, by evaluating its technological needs. This country meet some difficulties related to its strategic direction for technological progress. Technology and innovation -related phenomena, corporate organization and the proper use of human resources in all the phases of the production procedure represent on e of the main elements of competitiveness. By considering this fact, we present some strategic steps that should be taken to improve innovation and tec hnology for the country’s competitiveness on the global market and by the way its growth. The innovation theory of Schumpeter allow us to clarify the innovation’s situation of the country and find out that Benin should promote research and development strategy, implement the results which come out and also invest in leaders’ education to improve their skills in purpose of innovation development and so favor country growth.

Index TermsBenin, Development, Global Innovation Index, Innovation, Strategy.

—————————— ——————————

1 INTRODUCTION

fficially named the Republic of Benin, Benin is a country in Western Africa. Its short coastline to the south leads to the Bight of Benin. Its size is just over 112,000 kilometer
square with a population of almost 9 millions. Its capital is the city of Porto Novo, but the seat of government is the city of Cotonou. Benin was known as Dahomey until 1975.
Benin is a developing country and its economy remains de- pendent on subsistence agriculture, cotton production, and regional trade. In the past seven years growth in output has averaged around 5%. In order to raise growth still further, Benin plans to attract more foreign investment, place more emphasis on tourism, facilitate the development of new food processing systems and agricultural products, and encourage new information and communication technology.
This brings a new approach of cooperation around notions of dynamic competitiveness and innovation [1]. Benin lacks of necessary technological structure to face challenges of a rapid- ly changing and increasingly competitive world market.
Government and enterprises end up with considering tech- nology as one of the key components in a strategy for building competitiveness. It appears that technology and innovation in production process represent the main pillar of competitive- ness. Thus innovation has become a principal link in the rela- tion between trade and development. Benin lack integrated physical infrastructure and diversified economy required to weather shocks and to innovate by recombining existing re- sources in new ways or by introducing new products, pro- cesses, and organizational practices [2].

————————————————

Fabrice Boko is currently pursuing PhD degree program in strategic man- agement in School of Management in Wuhan University of Technology, China. E-mail: fbboko@yahoo.com

Qin Yuanjian is currently Professor of strategic management in Depart-

ment of Business Administration of School of Management in Wuhan Uni-

versity of Technology, China. E-mail: qyjhb@163.com
Innovation becomes the key factor for economy growth. In- novation has driven economic progress, from the invention of the spinning jenny that transformed the textile industry dur- ing the 18th century, to the harnessing of electricity and the development of mass production [3].
In less developed country, the discussion about innovation is mainly related to the situation in developed countries. So mainy of them does not take in consideration the context of poor countries.
This paper aims to contribute to this research gap by dis- cussing the situation closely related to innovation in Benin context. We will go throught innovation theory, process and model, and then based on Benin profile data, we will access the situation and draw the strategic approach to set out new orientation for Benin’s process of innovation.

2 INNOVATION THEORY AND PROCESS

2.1 Definition

Innovation is a process by which a novel idea is brought to the stage where it eventually produces money. It is a dynamic technical, economic and social process involving the interac- tion of people coming from different horizons, with different perspectives and different motivations. Innovation is the pro- cess of understanding the value of an idea in an economic, technical and social environment [4].
There is a distinction between invention and innovation.
Invention is the first occurrence of an idea for a new product
or process, while innovation is the first attempt to carry it out into practice" [5].

2.2 Innovation process and model

The Linear Model of Innovation is an early model of innova- tion that mentions technological change happens in a linear mode from Invention to Innovation to Diffusion.
In the economics and management books there is a wide
range of reference mentioning the Trilogy of ‘Invention-

IJSER © 2012

http://www.ijser.org

The research paper published by IJSER journal is about A Strategic Approach to Improve Innovation in Less-Developed Country: The Case of Benin 2

ISSN 2229-5518

Innovation-Diffusion’. The Schumpeterian trilogy divides the technological change process into three stages:

Fig. 1 Original model of three phases of the process of technological change

- Invention: the generation of new ideas
- Innovation: development of new ideas into marketable products and processes
- Diffusion: new products and processes spread across the potential market.
The Schumpeterian trilogy through “innovation” describes a special stage in the technological process. Innovation is used widely as a concept to describe the whole technological change process.

2.3 Innovation Theory

Schumpeter considers that innovation and entrepreneur must to be linked according to his theory which corresponds to five elements:
1. Introducing new products
2. Introducing new production functions
3. Providing new consumers through opening new
markets
4. Conquering new sources of materials
5. Creating new organization of industries.
This theory considers innovation in its largest context and only focuses on an industrialized countries situation. The in- terpretation of situation of Third World of which Benin be- longs is not full applicable to this theory. The Third World
situation and economic structure are not developed compared to industrialized countries. Schumpeter’s theory which con- siders innovation also called technical change or technological change satisfies the Western countries’ economies rather than the Third World’s economy.
For Schumpeter, carry out successful innovation brings economic growth. Generally this works in capitalist economies
with free market and huge technological ability. In the other aspect, Schumpeter’s concept of the entrepreneur is different to the one that of the entrepreneur in the Third World.
This concept is limited since it doesn’t take into account both the two worlds. Innovation means develop new strategy in terms or production, marketing. In the Third World, inno- vation arises to modify and improve completely existing tech- nology and then focuses on experimentation, research and implementation.
From this point and considering the technological and eco- nomic situation in the Benin, major innovation can not take place since the country does not have suitable infrastructure. In such condition technology transfer can play major role to contribute to the technology development.

2.4 Theoretical context

Rcently studies have contributed to analyzing factors affecting the innovative and competitive performance of clusters in de-
veloped countries. Innovation theories in developed countries emphasize the role of technological advance and radical inno- vations [6]. Policy recommendations directed to the promotion of scientific and technological outputs – scientific research and development (R&D), technical manpower, patents and scien- tific publications [7].
The literature review undertaken in this paper is to ask how much and what exactly we know about innovation in very less developed countries and whose inhabitants are sometimes referred to as the Bottom Billion [8]. Recent review of innova- tion studies produced no evidence that less developped coun- tries ever enjoyed much attention in the field [9].
Science, technology and innovation are very important for less developed countries’growth. But since the developmental deficits and needs of poor countries are evidently of a different order of magnitude from those of other developing countries, constraints on science, technology and innovation must be even better understood than elsewhere so that they can be appropriately addressed. By then many concepts can be brought out from innovation researches to highlight the rele- vant issues in these countries.
There is lack of linkages between government, industry and education in the researches made up to the mid-1970s, and the widespread irrelevance of public-sector research for either industry or the problems of their countries at large; the absence of high-level coordination of scientific activities; the lack of demand for innovation by an industrial sector en- trenched in sub-optimal equilibria and monopolistic markets with no incentive for upgrading; the dominance of multina- tional enterprises which controlled unassailable technological assets against small or medium-sized local firms with very circumscribed capabilities and the effects this may have on competition; and the nascence of assembly industries geared to exports which assigned subordinate roles to local produc- ers. In sum, problems existed with respect to demand for and supply and coordination of science, technology and innova- tion activities [10].
The decline in investments in research & developpement
conduct to insufficient critical mass of activity to yield any
outcomes [11] and criticized the gap between policy commit-
ments and incentives [12].
Some argument states that even in the face of an increas- ing share both of global R&D and national income generated in less developed coutries, innovation capacity has lagged be- cause the attendant technology development was often orient- ed to first-world needs and thus inappropriate [13].
The conditions under which innovation takes place or not, according to the case, differ fundamentally between advanced and very poor countries. Theses conditions are: missing or outdated infrastructure, inadequate access to requisite materi- als and equipment, lack of institutional support for building capabilities and of appropriately skilled human capital, and of resources. Learning has characteristics different from those found in developped countries where the availability of inputs

IJSER © 2012

http://www.ijser.org

The research paper published by IJSER journal is about A Strategic Approach to Improve Innovation in Less-Developed Country: The Case of Benin 3

ISSN 2229-5518

is less of an issue. And although by definition no environment is without (incidental) scarcity, only developing countries face systemic scarcity. In the extreme, scarcity can obviously pre- vent innovation and development. But scarcity can also induce innovations, even though they may end up being intensely local and thus not scale up particularly well. As such, they may also remain hidden from view which is one reason why there might be less literature on innovation in less-developped contries than desirable, and why much of it might be country- specific rather or otherwise idiosyncratic rather than produc-
ing more general insights [14].
Innovation is a complex, cumulative process resulting from continuous interactions between government, firm and education system.

3 MAJOR PROBLEMS IN THE GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT

Innovation performance index demonstrated the backlog in the field of exportation and could be explained by their inabil- ity to compete, and therefore to innovate.

TABLE 1

GLOBAL INNOVATION INDEX RANKINGS

Country/ Economy

Score

(0–100)

Rank

T=141

Income

Rank

Region

Rank

Benin

24.4

125

LI

13

SSF

21

China

45.4

34

UM

3

SEAO

8

Note: World Bank Income Group Classification (April 2012): LI = low income; UM = upper-middle income; Regions are based on the United Nations Classifi- cation (20 September 2011): SEAO = South East Asia and Oceania; SSF = Sub- Saharan Africa. T = The total of 141 countries.

Source: The Global Innovation Index2012, Soumitra Dutta, INSEAD

Source: The Global Innovation Index2012, Soumitra Dutta, INSEAD Fig. 2 Radar chart overall comparison of global innovation index of Benin & China

The detailled data of Figure 2 is in appendix.
Benin’s rank is 125 out of 141 countries or economies. This just show the this lack of innovation that has many causes, includ- ing: weak technological skills, low level of foreign direct in- vestment, low use of the intellectual property system for tech- nology transfer, high producing cost, poor product quality about some product and poor integration of new information technologies and communication.
(1) Low competitive performance index of African indus- tries
According to UNIDO, United Nations Industrial Devel- opement Organization, the performance criteria in terms of competitiveness in the industrial field are: - The manufactur- ing value added (MVA) per capita - Exports of manufactured goods per capita - The share of medium and high technology in the MVA - The share of medium and high technology in manufactured exports.
The competitive performance index (CPI) of African indus- tries is below expectations. The CPI of the industry is focused on performance in the production and export of manufactured goods as well as on the technological structure of these per- formances. Classification of certain developing countries in the CPI shows that sub-Saharan Africa is declining as their tech- nological structure of industrial production and exports. In this context the low level of technological development is seen as the key factor which contributes to the inability of African countries to develop their agricultural and pastoral potential. Indeed, the development of technology is crucial if African countries can compete in globalized markets. The develop- ment of technology is the way forward for African countries to engage in exports of products to competitive on world mar- kets.
(2) Lack of technology skills
Benin has a cheap labor, but not highly qualified. It should
improve its human capital in every sector of the economy. The
use of new technologies calls for skills from technical training
in special schools. Benin government has limited resources
and for political reasons, chooses to invest in general educa-
tion accessible to a larger number at the expense of institutions
offering technical training.
(3) Low level of research and development and non valori- zation of research results
Research and development contributes significantly to en- hancing the technological capabilities and skills to master the technology, including new technologies. Benin spends signifi- cant amounts on research and development and do not attract transnational investment materials research and development. If support is offered for research, equivalent amount of fund is never provided for the valuation of research results. The con- sequence is that many search results are not be used since the creation of research institutions. In the absence of recovery of innovations derived from research, products of good quality and competitive products have been unavailable on the Afri- can markets and international markets where competition is in full swing.
(4) Non-qualified manufactured products

IJSER © 2012

http://www.ijser.org

The research paper published by IJSER journal is about A Strategic Approach to Improve Innovation in Less-Developed Country: The Case of Benin 4

ISSN 2229-5518

As a result of several factors including:
- Non-control technologies for processing and preserving
food
- Failure to comply with the standards and the lack of quali-
ty control
- Packing inappropriate
- Lack of labeling
- Poor storage conditions and storage
(5) Producing cost very high
The main reason is the high energy costs and raw materials,
transportation, lack of tax incentives for tax reduction and
exemption of taxes on certain imports.
(6) Poor integration of new technologies of information and communication
Some of area still lack of computer, and Internet which have not yet mastered. New technologies of information and communication are now indispensable in all areas.

4 STUDY AND TECHNOLOGICAL NEEDS ASSESSMENT

Considering the low index of industrial performance of Benin, we can say that it fail to meet needs to be competitive in the markets. The positioning of Benin businesses in the global marketplace require to be competitive through innovation. Innovation means the improvement of products and technolo- gies as well as management and organization systems. Innova- tion also requires that companies adopt new technologies, ac- quire new skills or improve existing ones. To accomplish all these requirements of innovation, companies need expertise in several areas.
(1) The technology of processing, preserving and packaging of products
Depending on the raw materials, the quality of the finished product depends on the technology used, how it is preserved, its packaging and labeling. The mastery of the technology re- ferred to the finished product based on the raw material is a first step towards competitiveness. Without this control it is very difficult to innovate. It is also important to master the technological characteristics of raw materials. This happens through the development of human resources in science or technology transfer by a foreign direct investment.
(2) Exportation technology
Benin enterprises need to set up standards quality by the
target and it should be done according to international regula-
tion.
(3) Support services for innovation and technology transfer
They will be responsible of supporting enterprises in build-
ing and technology transfer through the intellectual property
system. They include both national patent offices as centers of
technological innovation.
(4) Financial support
Access to finance is a major obstacle to the creation and growth of Industries in Benin. Benin businesses need financial
assistance from the government in the form of loan or grant for financing research and development and marketing of in- novations. It consists of taking some measures that can sup- port industries. This assistance could also consist of tax measures to encourage research and development and acquisi- tion of equipment.
(5) Technical Assistance
Industries need to be assisted according to technology
needs and allow them to solve various problems relating to
human resources, marketing, organization and management
of agribusiness.
(6) The training of human resources
It is important industries and companies to train all types of
managers to acquire skills in various areas in the field new
technology of information and communication and to acceler-
ate the adoption of innovative approaches.

5 NEW ORIENTATIONS AND STRATEGIES

Innovation, like many business functions, is a management process that requires specific tools, rules, and discipline (Davi- la et al. 2006). This point of view emphasizes the introduction of news ideas to the organization process leading to significant improvements in terms of internal processes, new products and services.
The comparative advantages offered by the abundance natural resources are a major opportunity for Benin and Afri- can countries to promote productivity. In the era of globaliza- tion characterized by competition, businesses should be com- petitive through technological innovation.
(1) Training and development of technology skills
The development of expertise is a prerequisite for the mas-
tery of competitiveness and technology. The know-how is be-
coming increasingly important in a global economy based on
knowledge. Human capital, namely education and training
contribute to economic development through increased work-
er productivity and effective use of technology. Proficiency,
use and adaptation of new technologies require the expertise
of various levels and in various fields.
A strategy to have a strong human capital, with emphasis on technical training to meet the demand for specialized labor and to promote research and innovation is essential.
(2) Infrastructure, Information and Documentation
The country should increase capabilities of information sys-
tems. New opportunities for communication of scientific and
technological information should be available to any potential
inventors and innovators. Energy and telecommunications are
the operational determinants of competitiveness. Internet
plays a very important role. The country needs to set up some
laboratories to conduct researches.
(3) Research and development
Innovation and research and development are crucial for the development, promotion and deepening of technological capabilities. A specific strategy in terms of research and

IJSER © 2012

http://www.ijser.org

The research paper published by IJSER journal is about A Strategic Approach to Improve Innovation in Less-Developed Country: The Case of Benin 5

ISSN 2229-5518

should be given special attention, with particular emphasis on research in the private sector and businesses.
(4) Promoting the use of intellectual property for technolo- gy transfer
This is a key area that should be taken into account since it’s leading to a low level of innovative activities, therefore a lack of competitiveness. The country should strengthen the intellectual property to protect the creation and by the way encourage initiatives.
(5) Standardization and quality control
Particular emphasis will be placed on the institutional and
legislative framework in this area:
- Setting up structures of standardization, certification, cali-
bration and laboratory quality control and accreditation
- The adoption of international standards
- Access to information industry and information on pack-
aging and quality control.
(6) Technological Advice and Consultations
This is mainly to advice on the choice of valid technologies as well as the formulation, planning and implementation of policies and programs in science and technology. The activi- ties include the implementation of a strategy for technological
innovation resulting from the determination of priorities and constraints identified in the production, packaging, storage, processing, handling and marketing of various categories of food.
(7) Intelligence and Technical Cooperation
Maintaining a flow of exchanges of information or experi-
ence is necessary for the stimulation of research, transfer and
technological innovation and industrial production. Very of-
ten, researchers, inventors or African industrialists do not have the required scientific environment, due to lack of local research capacity development, the absence of a scientific and technological well-organized such as associations (e.g. physics,
chemistry, biology, etc..) or corporation (e.g. agronomists, nu- tritionists, etc..) and participating actively in solving local problems of development.
(8) Promote direct investment A good strategy to promote foreign direct investment could contribute to a rapid techno- logical development. It brings not only the technological know-how, but also equipment and industrial machinery. A thorough review of the institutional and regulatory frame- work is one of the elements of this strategy.

6 CONCLUSION

With the strengthening of economic globalization, under the auspices of radical changes and technological innovations, there is an urgent need to promote, in Benin and the African States, a vigorous promotion of inventions, and the transfer of
technological innovation based primarily on the development of local resources and involving both research institutions, governments and business and domestic consumers.
African governments have recognized the need to develop new systems of training to enhance the knowledge and skills conducive to innovation. They try to put in place a policy framework more challenging. To complement these initiatives, it will be necessary to create a mechanism to encourage enter- prises to innovate and to gather local resources [1].

REFERENCES

[1] MYTELKA Lynn Krieger Partenariats pour l’innovation : nouveau rôle pour la coopération Sud-Sud, 1997. (In french)

[2] OCDE (ORGANISATION DE COOPÉRATION ET DE DÉ-

VELOPPEMENT ÉCONOMIQUES), Technology and the Economy

The Key Relationships, Paris, OCDE. 1992 (In french)

[3] DTI, Competing in the global economy: the innovation challenge, Innovation Report – Overview, December 2003.

[4] Lionnet, Pierre, Innovation, The Process, ESA Training Wor kshop,

2003

[5] Fagerberg, Jan., "Innovation: A Guide to the Literature" in Fagerberg, Jan, David C. Mowery and Richard R. Nelson, The Oxford Handbook of Innovations, Oxford University Press. pp. 1 –26, 2004

[6] Schumpeter, J. A. (1947) “The Creative Response in Economic Histo-

ry” in Journal of Economic History7(2): pp. 149-159

[7] Patel, P. (1995) “Localised Production of Technology for Global Ma r-

kets”, in Cambridge Journal of Economics,Vol. 19 (1), pp. 141–154.

[8] Collier, P. (2007), The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries are

Failing and What Can Be Done about It, Oxford: OUP.

[9] Martin, B.R. (2008), 'The Evolution of Science Policy and Innovation Studies', TIK Working Paper on Innovation Studies, No. 20080828. Available at: http://ideas.repec.org/s/tik/inowpp.html

[10] Crane, D. (1977), 'Technological Innovation in Developing Countries: A Review of the Literature', in Research Policy 6(4): 374-395.

[11] Pardey, Phil G., Roseboom, J, and Beintema, N.M. (1997), 'Invest- ments in African Agricultural Research', in World Development

25(3): 409-423.

[12] Lorentzen, J. (2010), 'Ghana's Innovation System: What's Wrong with It, and Why', in African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation, and Development, 2 (2): 106- 133.

[13] Kaplinsky, R., Chataway, J., Clark, N., Hanlin, R., Kale, D., Muraguri, L., Papaioannou, T., Robbins, P. and Wamae, W. (2010), 'Below the Radar: What Does Innovation in Emerging Economies Have to Offer Other Low-Income Economies?' Working Paper #2010-020, UNU- Merit, Maastricht.

[14] Srinivas, S. and Sutz, J. (2008), 'Developing Countries and Innov a- tion: Searching for a New Analytical Approach', in Technology in So- ciety, 30(2): 129-40.

IJSER © 2012

http://www.ijser.org

In ternational Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research Volume 3, Issue 12, December-2012 6

ISSN 2229-5518

APPENDIX: THE GLOBAL INNOVATION INDEX2012, SOUMITRA 0UTTA, INSEAD 2012

Country/Economy Profiles

T he fo ll ow in g tabl es provid e deta iled profiles for each of the 141 economies in the Global In nova tion

I ndex 2012. They a re constructed arou nd three sections.

D Th ree key indicators a t th e beg inni ng o f ea c h

comparable. Please refer to Annex 2 of Ch a pter 1 for details.

Scores are norma li zed in the [0,

100J range except for the Efficiency I n d ex, for w hi ch scores revolve around the number 1 (this index is

II The value / norma li zed score and the rank for each pi ll ar (iden­

t if ied by i ts si ng l e-d i git n u m ber), su b-pi lla r (t wo-digit n u mber), a nd indica to r (three-dig it nu mber) are repo rted. For exam pl e, indicator

1.3.1, Ease cif startini.: a business,

appea rs u nder su b - pillar 1.3,

p rof il e a re intend ed to put th e econo m y into conte x t. T h ey present the popu lation

i n m illions, 1 GDP per ca pita

Albania

D W; lllil ,. I l

=::.-::::-_-Jfti Mol)tlJ-

-=.... - :...:»,... .·.-· D ...

.....,.._..,..._ ,._.

..• -..-._-..-..-,..-..·.,.-..''"'-".;",p

-"' '""'..._...........

••r ..,..•.,_ ,_ .. , .,

:. :::;..·!...-:.:::""'

B11sirr ess environment, wh ich in tu rn appears u nder pillar

1, Institutions.

W h e n dat a are e i t her

in PPP c u rrent inte rn a tional doll ars,2 a nd G DP in US$ billi ons.3 Wh ile co min g

fro m d i fferent sou rces, t he

·- ----"" ''

....,_._.,.. ..

II V_W.. "'--111Nr- ,._.,

-·--

not ava i lable or o ut of date (the cu toff yea r is 2001), 'n /a' is used.

T h e 2012 G il in cludes

three ser ies were ex trac ted from the World Ban k World

J =.. -

J. --=...---.-..-.--·..

lA. ! =--:-,:-.<.=L"='_:..:..

84 i nd ica tors and three t ypes f data . Composi te i nd i ca­

u -----·--

o

. -·--· -.-.-.--c;roo

Developmerll l11d icators dat

base in A pril 2012.

IJ Th e nex t section pro­

v id es th e eco n o my's scores a nd ra n kings on t he Global I nn ova tion I ndex (G II ), the I nnovation l.nput Sub-Index,

. =:.::...;-..::-.:._.

u::::.:_-

0..0..,_....u•;.oll'

! :!:7' -....,..,=-:---=-u.. n

·-..

. ---.'..-.-,-"-"-."....

:...·:=::.:

....-..-- .: ·

" . ..:;:.: ·-- ,: :

---...._-..._..C-..D'

:. § :::.

, -..........-....-.·.6..-.-..-..·.._. .,Ho.i....

. ,-_,.-.,..-, .,-..-·

..=.............. =...I'I.Oolo'l'-- ?

tors a re i dentified with a n

asterisk (*), survey q uestions fro m t he World Econom ic For u m's Exec u t ive Opinion Survey are identified w it h a dagger (t), and t he remain­

i ng i nd i ca tors are a ll h ard data series.

the Innova ti on Output Sub­

I ndex, and th e I nnovati on

Efficiency I ndex.

The G il ranki ng for the

2011 edi tion comes next, followed by the economy's 2012 ra nk a mong the 125 economies included in t he

2011 ed ition. No te that beca u se of

t he inclusion of 16 additional econ­ om ies in 2012 (from 125 to 141), and because of adj ustments made to the G il framewor k in 2012, the G II 2011 and 2012 are no t di rectly

ca lcu la ted a s the ra tio between th e

Ou tput and In pu t Su b-I ndices).

The In nova ti o n I n pu t Sub­ I ndex score is calc ulated as the sim­ ple average of the scores i n the first f i ve pi ll ars, wh il e th e I n nova ti on Output S ub-I ndex is calculated as th e si m pl e average of the last t wo pilla rs.

IJSER 2012 http /lwww qser org

For hard data , t he origi­

nal va lue is provided (except fo r in d i ca tors 7.3.1, 7.3.2, and 7.3.4, for w h ich the raw

da ta were provided u nder the con­ dition that on l y the norma l ized scores be p u bl is hed). N or ma l ized scores in the [0, 100J range a re pro­ vided for everything else (index and survey da ta, su b-pi lla rs, pi llars, a nd indices).

International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research Volume 3, Issue 12, December-2012 7

ISSN 2229-5518

For f u rt her deta ils, see Appendix III , Sou rces and D ef in itions , and Appendix IV, Technica l Notes.

II To the far r i gh t of each col­

u m n, a pla in circle indicates t hat a n indicator is one of the strengths of t he count r y/economy in ques t ion, a nd a hollow circle i ndicates that it is a weak ness.

All to p ra n ks (of 1) are hig h­

lighted as strengths; for t he remain­ i ng i nd i c a t ors, s tre n gths and wea k nesses of a partic ular economy are based on the percentage of econ­ omies with scores t ha t fall below its score (i .e., percent ranks).

Strength s are all scores wi th perce nt ra n ks greater th a n the lOth largest percent rank among the 84 indica tors in a speci fic economy.

o Weak n esses are a ll sc o res wi th pe rc e nt ra n k s l ower t han the lO th s ma llest per­ cent rank a mong t he 84 indi­ cators i n a specific economy.

Perce nt ranks em b ed more in formation than ra n k s a nd a llow for compar i sons of ranks of series

with m issin g da ta a nd ties in ra n ks.

of t he economies i n the sam­ ple have lower scores in t his i nd ica to r tha n Poland does ( i t s p erce nt rank i s 0.90, t h e hi ghest among t h e 84 indicators).

3. Fo ll ow i ng tha t cr i t e r i a , Poland 's majo r weakness is

5.2.5 PCT patent filings with foreign inventor, with a rank of

89 out of 102 bu t a perce n t

rank of 0.13. However, here the £1ct that da ta are missing for 39 economies does not allow a straightforwa rd read­ i ng of the rank (89).

4. I n co n t rast , Pol and's worst ra n k is llOth o ut of 133 in

7. 1.4 ICT & orga ni zationa l model creationf, a lt hough on ly

17% of economies have lower

scores t ha n Pol and (its per­ cent rank is 0.17, lower t ha n for indicator 5.2.5).

Percent ranks a re not reported in the Count ry/Economy Profiles bu t are presented in the Data Ta bles (Appendix II), included in the digi­ tal copy only a nd a vaila ble o nli ne a t http://globa li nnova tioni ndex.org.

Exam ples from Pola nd illustrate th is

point:

1. Poland's best rank is its 8th posi t ion ou t of 140 i n 4.1.1

Ea se of get t ing cr edit*. B ut beca u se 13 econom i es are tied w ith Poland a t rank 8, only 86% have lower scores t ha n Poland ( perce nt ran k:

0.86).

2. Even if Pola nd's rank in 1.1.1

Political stability*-where it ra n k s 15t h out of 141- is lower than its rank of 8th in indica to r 4.1.1, it is Poland's major st rength beca use 90%

Notes

World Bank estimates based on various sources.

2 World Bank,International Comparison

Program database.

3 World Bank national accounts data,and

OECD National Accounts data files.

IJSER IS)2012

http://www ijser org

Internatio nal Jo urnal of Scientific & Engineering Research Volume 3, Issue 12, December-2012

ISSN 2229-5518

8

Benin

Key indicators

4.2

Investment..................................................................................3.6

129 0

Population (millions) •...................................................................................9.9

4.2.1

Ease of protecting investors* ..................................................7.1

123

GOP per capita,PPP$ ....................................................................1.491.5

GOP (US$ billions) .........................................................................................7.5

Score (0-100)

orvalue (hard data) Rank

GlobalInnovation Index 2012 (out of 141)......................... 24.4 125

Innovation Output Sub-Index ........................................................ ............22.0 108

Innovation Input Sub-Index................................. .........................................26.7 132

Innovation EfficiencyIndex ...............................................................................0.8 36 e

GlobalInnovatoi n Index 2011 (out of 125) .............................. 118

4.2.2 Market capitalization, % GOP ................................................n. /a n/a

4.2.3 Total value of stocks traded,% GOP ....................................n. /a n/a

4.2.4 Venture capital deals/tr PPP$ GOP ........................................0.0 65 0

4.3 Trade & competition .......................................................22.4 740 o

4.3.1 Applied tariff rate, weighted mean,%...... .. .............1 5.4 1 38 0

4.3.2 Non-agricultural mkt access weighted tariff.%..............8.8 1 38 0

4.3.3 Imports of goods & services, % GOP ..................................27.7 115

4.3.4 Exports of goods & services,% GOP ...................................1 4.1 133 0

4.3.5 Intensity of local competitiont ............................................59.0 89

Gll2012 rank amongGll2011 economies (125)......................•.............................• 115

lnstitutions....................................................44.7 102

5

5.7

5.1 .1

Business sophistication ..............................31.5 118

Knowledge workers........ .................... ..................................38.5 93

Knowledge-intensive employment,%..................................n/a n/a

1.1

1.1 .1

1.1.2

1.1.3

1.2

1.2.1

1.2.2

1.2.3

1.3

1.3.1

1.3.2

1.3.3

2

2.1

2.1.1

2.1 .2

2.1.3

2.1.4

2.1.5

2.2

2.2.1

2.2.2

2.2.3

2.2.4

Political environment .................................................57.3 66

Political stability* .....................................................................72.7 53

Government effectiveness*.... . ... ........................26.9 100

Press freedom* ................................................................................72.3 70

Regulatory environment.......................................................64.4 77

Regulatory quality*.................................................................43.5 94

Rule of law* ..............................................................................28.4 1OS

Cost of redundancy dismissal,salary weeks ...................11 .6 47 e

Business environment ...............................................12.4 136 0

Ease of starting a business* ........................... .......7.1 130

Ease of resolving insolvency* ...........................22.3 109

Ease of paying taxes• ................................................................7.9 129

Human capital & research..........................20.5 123

Education.............. ...................................................................36.7 114

Current expenditure on education,% GNI........................4.3 65 e

Public expenditure/pupil,% GOP/cap ..............................17.0 79

School life expectancy,years ...................................................9.4 1 20

PISA scales in reading, maths,& science ...........................n/a n/a

Pupil-teacher ratio,secondary ............................23.9 108

Tertiaryeducation ....................................................................4.6 137 0

Tertiary enrolment,% gross.......................................................6.0 116

Graduates in science & engineering,% ..................................n/a n/a Tertiary inbound mobility,% ........................................................n/a n/a Gross tertiary outbound enrolment,%....... ......................0.4 103

5.1.2

5.1.3

5.1 .4

5.1.5

5.1 .6

5.2

5.2.1

5.2.2

5.2.3

5.2.4

5.2.5

5.3

5.3.1

5.3.2

5.3.3

5.3.4

6

6.7

6.1.1

6.1.2

6.1.3

6.1.4

6.2

6.2.1

Firms offering formal training,% firms................................32.4 57 e R&D performed by business,%.. ................... .. .................n/a n/a R&D financed by business,%... . . .. ........ .... . .. .. .. ...........n/a n/a GMAT mean score .....464.0 102

GMAT test takers/mn pop.20-34 ...........................................1 8.6 114

Innovation linkages ..............................................................2. 6.2 7 7 7

University/industry research collaborationt......................38.5 86

State of cluster developmentt ............................................27.2 119

R&D financed by abroad,% ....................... .........n. /a n/a

JV-strategic alliance deals/tr PPP$ GOP. ...........0.0 114 0

PCT patent filings with foreign inventor,% .........................n. /a n/a

Knowledge absorption.....................................................29.8 97

Royalty & license fees payments/th GDP...............................O.S 91

High-tech imports less re-imports,% ...................................n. /a n/a

Computer & comm. service imports,%..... ...... ...........25.0 84

FDI net inflows,% GOP ...................................................................1.7 87

Knowledge & technology outputs ........... 21.2 101

Knowledge creation.................................... .....................19.7 77

Domestic resident patent ap/bn PPP$ GOP ...........0.7 73

PCT resident patent ap/bn PPP$ GOP.. ............................0.1 78

Domestic res utility model ap/bn PPP$ GOP .....................n/a n/a

Scientific & technical articles/bn PPP$ GOP .....................3.5 66

Knowledge impact .................................................................76.8 727

Growth rate of PPP$ GOP/worker,%.................... ..................n/a n/a

2.3

2.3.1

2.3.2

Research & development (R&D)......................................20.1

Researchers,headcounts/mn pop................................123.3

Gross expenditure on R&D,% GOP.... ....n/a

73 .

95

n/a

6.2.2

6.2.3

6.2.4

New businesses/th pop. 1 5-64... ....... ... ..... . .. .. ............n/a n/a Computer software spending,% GOP ...................................n/a n/a ISO 9001 quality certificates/bn PPP$ GOP ............................1 .1 112

2.3.3

3

3.1

3.1.1

3.1.2

Quality of scientific research institutionst .......................39.4 79

lnfrastructure................................................24.8 106

Information & communication technologies (ICT)........12.7 129

ICT access*.... . ...22.2 113

ICT use* .................................................................................................1 .2 132 0

6.3

6.3.1

6.3.2

6.3.3

6.3.4

Knowledge diffusion.............................................................2. 7.2

Royalty & license fees receipts/th GDP.......................................O.O High-tech exports less re-exports,%....... . ................n/a Computer & comm. service exports,% ........24.2

FDI net outflows,% GOP ..................................................................0.5

65 .

96

n/a

76

58

3.1.3

3.1.4

3.2

3.2.1

3.2.2

3.2.3

3.2.4

3.3

3.3.1

3.3.2

3.3.3

4

4.1

4.1.1

4.1 .2

4.1 .3

Government's online service* ..............................................19.6 132 0

E-participation*.................................................................. .......7.9 98

General infrastructure...........................................................30.2 99

Electricity output, kWh/cap ...................................................13.5 124 0

Electricity consumption, kWh/cap .............................87.9 122 0

Quality of trade & transport infrastructure• ....................37.0 74

Gross capital formation,% GOP ........................................25.8 37 e

Ecological sustainability.............................................31.5 65 e

GOP/unit of energy use, 2000 PPP$/kg oil eq....................2.9 101

Environmental performance•......... ........50.4 77

ISO 1 4001 environmentalcertificates/bn PPP$ GOP ......n/a n/a

Marketsophistication.................................12.1141 o

Credit .....................................................................................10.5 121

Ease of getting credit*.... . . .. .... .......2.8 126 0

Domestic credit to private sector,% GOP ....23.1 109

Microfinance gross loans,% GOP ........................................1 .9 22

7

7. 7

7.1.1

7.1.2

7.1.3

7.1 .4

7.2

7.2.1

7.2.2

7.2.3

7.2.4

7.2.5

7.3

7.3.1

7.3.2

7.3.3

7.3.4

Creative outputs ..........................................22.8 110

Creative intangibles...............................................................4 7.7 63 e Domestic res trademark reg/bn PPP$ GOP.....................n/a n/a Madrid resident trademark reg/bn PPP$ GOP ....................n. /a n/a

ICT & business model creationt .................................................40.7 113

ICT & organizational model creationt ....................................42.8 87

Creative goads & services...................................... ..............7.7 736 0

Recreation & culture consumption,% ... ...... .... ... ............n/a n/a National feature films/mn pop. 15-69 ..............n/a n/a Paid-for dailies, circulation/th pop. 15-69 ............................ 1 0.7 114

Creative goods exports,% ................................................................0.1 119

Creative services exports,% ............. ...........................................0.3 91

Online creativity .....................................................................6.6 72 7

Generic top-level domains (TLDs)/th pop. 15-69...............0.3 117

Country-code TLDs/th pop. 1 5-69 ...........1 .0 125

Wikipedia monthly edits/mn pop. 15-69 ..............................n. /a n/a

Video uploads on YouTube/pop. 1 5-69 ... ... . ........ ..........1 8.6 1 23

IJSER IS)2012

http://www ijser org