FRAME Mid-Term Policy Conference

Innovation and Research & Development (R&D) activities are essential for boosting productivity and economic growth. Since the first formalizations made by Griliches (1973), the contribution of R&D to economic growth has been widely accepted among economists. Consequently, R&D has been increasingly high on policymakers’ agendas, not only to address related market failures (Nelson, 1959; Arrow, 1962) but also to assist the emergence of new markets to tackle societal challenges. Policymakers rely on a wide variety of macroeconomic models to assess the relation between R&D and growth. Different types of policy interventions have been designed and implemented to stimulate R&D activities but also to realign public and private interests.

So far, multiple approaches have been used to assess how innovation and R&D policies ease the diffusion and adoption of technologies. Constructive and stimulating discussions about the different modelling strategies are needed to address future research questions. Why, for example, do some countries, or regions, benefit faster from the use of technologies? Are public innovations more likely, or quicker, to diffuse? What factors explain the rate(s) at which technologies diffuse?

The conference aims to bring together contributions using a wide range of approaches (CGE, DSGE, ABM, and micro-founded approaches) and levels of analysis (micro, regional, sectoral, national or international levels). Contributions on, but not limited to, the following issues are particularly encouraged:

• New frameworks for understanding technological diffusion and adoption
• New approaches to measuring the impacts of R&D spillovers, or innovation, on growth paths
• New frameworks for studying structural change, economic growth and development
• The interplay between public and private R&D, and its consequences for innovation
• The role of the state in sustaining and diffusing innovation (market creation, demand-oriented policies, or R&D incentives)
• The influence of macro-determinants, institutions, and trade policies on the adoption of technologies