Services and Innovation for the Competitiveness of the Ecuadorian Economy

Rubalcaba, Luis ; Gago, David ; Ariano, Maria ; Tripathi, Arvind

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: services;    innovation;    competitiveness;    trade;    investment climate;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-7767
RP-ID  :  WPS7767

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

Ecuador is one of the least diversifiedcountries in Latin America and the Caribbean, dependingheavily on oil and agriculture. This policy paper examineshow services and innovation can play a role in transformingthe Ecuadorian economy from one based on natural resourcesto one based on knowledge and services. The paper assessesthe performance of the services sector and its contributionto other sectors. The paper shows that services make asignificant contribution to the country's economicgrowth (albeit below the average for the region). However,the services sector in Ecuador performs poorly inproductivity and trade competitiveness. Further, services donot add enough value for export providers and users overtime. The deficit in the integration of business services,especially knowledge-intensive business services, isparticularly high, affecting the competiveness of allsectors and their value chains. Among the drivers ofproductivity and competitiveness, innovation is the keyquality and differentiation factor (as distinguished fromprice-related, regulatory, and competition factors).Innovation in Ecuadorian services firms does notsignificantly affect performance (for example, sales andexports), although innovation in manufacturing does improvethe performance of manufacturing firms. Finally, the paperprovides some conclusions and meaningful crosscutting policyrecommendations for a services-related policy aimed atfostering competitiveness and innovation. Services needaction in innovation policy (innovation programs could bebetter adapted to services innovation specificities), butalso in areas such as coordination at the institutionallevel; internationalization and foreign direct investment;and quality, regulatory, and competition issues affectingthe investment climate.