“Natural Resource Industries as a Platform for the Development of Knowledge Intensive Industries”
2015 (with Marin, A. and Navas-Aleman). Natural Resource Industries as a Platform for the Development of Knowledge Intensive Industries. Tijdschrift Voor Economische en Sociale Geografie. Vol 106, Issue 2, p. 154-168
The case against natural resources in development – based on data from two historical periods
Taking a long-term view: what is left from the NR curse?
The new (and renewed) forces creating innovation opportunities in natural resource-based networks
Changes in demand volume
Changes in demand requirements
Advances in science & technology (S&T)
Changes in the global market context
Two empirical illustrations
The agricultural sector in Argentina
The mining sector: examples from Chile
In the innovation and development literature, natural resources (NR) are generally viewed as a curse for developing nations and NR-based industries as having little potential to innovate and drive long-term growth. This has led policy and development experts to opt for strategies to induce a shift in the pattern of specialization towards other sectors. This paper proposes a different approach. By exploring recent evidence from the Argentinean agricultural sector and the mining industry in Chile, it points to the window of opportunity that NR industries offer as a platform to develop knowledge intensive industries with which to support economic development in resource-endowed countries. The lessons drawn from these findings suggest that development strategies can also promote more innovative knowledge intensive NR-based industries rather than moving away from them.