Abstract

BORRASTERO, Carina Mariana. The Question of the State in Neo Schumpeterian Theories of Innovation and Development. Temas debates (En línea) [online]. 2016, n.31, pp.37-62. ISSN 1853-984X.

The overall objective of this paper is to analyze the conceptions of the State and its role in the processes of innovation and development in neoschumpeterian evolutionary theories. We propose a conceptual analysis of the major works of the leading exponents: Nelson and Winter, Dosi, Lundvall and Pérez, from a critical perspective that problematizes their contributions and limits for a multidimensional understanding of innovation and development. We asseverate the centrality of the question of the State starting from an exploration of the general conceptual architecture of theories. We investigate the relationship between the theoretical assumptions expressed in the theoretical discourse of the authors and the specific weight and conceptual depth that acquires the question of the State in their analysis. We suggest that the authors maintain a restricted conception of the State that raises theoretical difficulties relevant to think about the processes of innovation and development. On this basis we propose the need to pass from the State as given in theory to the State as an object of study, while recognizing the fruitfulness of these theories to think the problems associated with production, circulation and consumption of knowledge within social systems and their implications for development.

Keywords : State; Innovation; Development; Evolutionary theories of innovation.