The Socio-Economic Importance of Scientific Research To Canada

More documents

Recommendations

Info

The Socio-Economic Importance of Scientific Research to Canada Page 3© David A. Wolfe and Ammon Salterservice industries. At the centre of this emerging economy, and critical to both its productionand use of knowledge, is the science system, “A country’s science system takes on increasedimportance in a knowledge–based economy. Public research laboratories and institutions ofhigher education are at the core of the science system, which more broadly includesgovernment science ministries and research councils, certain enterprises and other privatebodies, and supporting infrastructure” (1996, p. 237).Despite these assertions about the role of knowledge in the emerging economy, the exactrelationship between public support for scientific research and the level of economicperformance and social well–being remains more a matter of affirmation, than a set of factsbased on measurement and analysis by science policy researchers. There are several reasonsfor this uncertainty relating to the nature of knowledge, government programs, and theinnovation process. The postwar consensus on the benefit of investing in basic research failedto produce a clear methodological or empirical approach for gauging its benefits. Researchersare confronted with the near impossible task of measuring a process that is characterized byheterogeneity, subtlety, and multiple causality. Most economic studies have attempted tomeasure statistical correlations between inputs, such as the level of public funding for researchand development, and various economic outputs. Science policy studies, on the other hand,have tried to understand the detailed dynamics underlying the relationship, drawing onsurveys, bibliometrics, and case studies. Both approaches have failed to generate simpleevidentiary measures of the relationship between government–funded research and economicperformance.In this report, we situate these issues in the context of current debates about science andtechnology policy in Canada. We review the results of empirical research into the relationshipbetween public funding for scientific research and the level of economic performance. Ourreport surveys several recent reviews of the economic benefits of publicly–funded research (USOffice of Technology Assessment 1986, David et al. 1992, Smith 1991, Popper 1995, Swann1996, Martin et al. 1996). These reviews conclude that government funding of basic researchhas substantial benefits for industrial performance, but the size or location of the benefits mayvary considerably among sectors, firms, and areas of government activity. They underline thedifficulties encountered by economists and science policy researchers in developing simple andclear measurements of the benefits. All suggest the need for caution in evaluating the work inthis field, given the preliminary, limited, and, sometimes, even misleading, nature of theevidence presented to date.3
The Socio-Economic Importance of Scientific Research to Canada Page 4© David A. Wolfe and Ammon SalterAfter assessing the various attempts that have been made to measure the social and economicreturns to publicly–funded scientific research, we draw together a composite list of benefits.We suggest that public support for basic research should best be seen as an investment ingenerating and sustaining a learning capability, which is closely linked to the elements of thescience system described above. The development of a learning capability promotes theformation of skills, networks, and a capacity for technological problem–solving on the part ofa society. Government funding also expands the pool of technological opportunities availablefor firms to draw upon in their process of innovation and offers institutional support to thesefirms as they draw from the pools. In the last section, we compare the insights derived fromour analysis with the recent experience in Canada and assess recent trends in the state of publicsupport in Canada for scientific research and its implications for the future economic and socialwell–being of the country.THE CONTEXT FOR SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH IN CANADAQuestions about the relative status and contribution of publicly–funded research in Canadamust be situated within the context of the current debate over the federal government’s role inscience and technology policy. This debate has been framed, in part, by the expectationsgenerated in the science and technology community by the results of the 1993 federal electionand by the subsequent S&T policy review launched by the new government. The LiberalParty’s policy platform, released at the outset of the 1993 campaign, the famous Red Book,noted the importance of innovation in the new ideas–based economy. It emphasized thedynamic role of small and medium–sized enterprises in a growing economy, the need torevitalize the manufacturing, resource and service industries, and to enhance the idea–basedsectors of the economy, and the importance of supporting the communities in which thesebusinesses are grounded. It emphasized the need to move research results from the lab to themarketplace more effectively and to help Canadian business adopt and use new technologymore effectively.Many of the themes raised in the Red Book were repeated in the consultation documents forthe federal government’s Science and Technology review launched the following year. Theopening sentences of the consultation document echoed some of the themes outlined in theintroduction to this paper, “Knowledge is becoming the most important factor contributing tothe health of the economy. It is the essential ingredient permitting people and investment tobecome more productive” (Government of Canada 1994b, p. 2). However, the consultationdocument also took note of the critical challenge facing Canadian S&T policy — the need toovercome our historically low level of investment in knowledge intensive–activities. It4
Page 1 and 2: The Socio-Economic Importance of Sc
Page 3: The Socio-Economic Importance of Sc
Page 55 and 56:
The Socio-Economic Importance of Sc
Page 57:
The Socio-Economic Importance of Sc
show all

The Socio-Economic Importance of Scientific Research To Canada

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?