UNESCO SCIENCE REPORT

Latin America
Figure 7.6: Researchers (FTE) in Latin America per thousand labour force, 2012
Countries outside Latin America are given for comparison
15.9
14.9
12.92
11.6
9.2
3.02
2.11
1.48
1.08 0.88 0.63 0.41 0.37 0.35 0.32 0.06
Israel
Finland
Denmark
Singapore
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics
Portugal
Argentina
Costa Rica
Brazil (2010)
Uruguay
Mexico
Venezuela
Ecuador (2010)
Paraguay
Bolivia (2010)
Chile
Guatemala
countries – Argentina (1 256) and Costa Rica (1 289) – both
have ratios above the world average: 1 083 (see Table 1.3).
Mexico. Brazil is the only country with an R&D effort of more
than 1% of GDP (see Chapter 8 and Figure 7.7).
Argentina still has the most full-time equivalent (FTE)
researchers per thousand labour force. Argentina’s ratio is even
twice that of Brazil, 3.4 times that of Mexico and almost ten
times that of Chile. This said, Argentina still has a great distance
to travel to catch up to developed economies (Figure 7.6).
Latin America as a region nevertheless excels for other
indicators, such as for the participation of women in research
(Lemarchand, 2010, pp. 56–61). A recent study has shown
that Latin America also has the highest rates of female
entrepreneurship and a smaller gender gap in research than
other regions (IDB, 2015; see also Chapter 3). This is hardly
surprising, given the explicit policy instruments promoting
women in science and engineering in Latin America. The most
compelling of these are the Women and Science programme
in Brazil and the Postgraduate Scholarship Programme for
Indigenous Women in Mexico.
TRENDS IN R&D EXPENDITURE
GERD has remained relatively constant in Latin America over
the past few decades (Lemarchand, 2010, p. 35–37). Since 2006,
R&D spending has grown moderately in Argentina, Brazil and
Mexico but there is no evidence to suggest that either Chile
or Colombia is making a determined push to raise its own
R&D intensity. Among the smaller economies, Costa Rica and
Uruguay have the highest level of investment in R&D, whereas
GERD seems to fluctuate in Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador and Panama.
The public sector remains the main source of funding, particularly
in Argentina, Cuba, Mexico and Paraguay. Businesses in the region
contribute about 40% of R&D funding, on average (Figure 7.7),
with Brazil slightly surpassing this share (see Chapter 8). The public
sector still carries out the bulk of research. Six countries receive
a considerable share of research funding from abroad: Chile, El
Salvador, Guatemala, Panama, Paraguay and Uruguay (Figure 7.7).
In the case of Chile, the high share of GERD funded from abroad
(18%) relates to the activity of a cluster of European and North
American astronomical observatories; in Panama, the high share
(21%) is due to the presence of the Smithsonian Institution.
Chapter 7
Countries could invest more in R&D
In 2012, gross domestic expenditure on R&D (GERD) in Latin
America and the Caribbean surpassed PPP$ 54 billion (in 2012
constant dollars), 11 a 1.70% increase over 2003. Just three
countries concentrate 91% of GERD: Argentina, Brazil and
11. The original RICYT estimations were calculated using PPP current international
dollars. In order to remove distortions caused by inflation, here, we have adjusted
those values to constant PPP (2012) dollars.
A breakdown of R&D expenditure by socio-economic objective
is only available for a handful of countries. In 2012, Argentina
and Chile allocated one-third of this expenditure to engineering
and technology, a sizeable share for emerging economies. Both
prioritized industrial and agricultural production and technology.
Smaller countries prioritized agricultural production (Guatemala
and Paraguay), human health (El Salvador, Guatemala and
Paraguay), social structures (Ecuador), infrastructure, energy
and the environment (Panama).
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