R&D Policies of Korea and Their Implications for Developing Countries

Abstract

The current article explains the research and development (R&D) policies of Korea that the Government pursued in the national innovation system to develop the technology level in the process of rapid economic growth. The efforts to build various research institutes, provide tax incentives and establish technology and science zones facilitated technology development in Korea. The article also shows the performances of the R&D policies, such as human resource development, patents and technology trade as consequences of these efforts. Finally, this article draws implications for developing countries from the experience of Korea regarding the role of the Government in promoting innovation and developing technology-intensive industries.

R&D Promotion Policies of Developing Countries and Fairness in International Trade Relations

“…First and foremost, it is critical for policymakers to recognize the importance of R&D policies and R&D subsidies in economic development. Such Asian dynamic economies as South Korea, Taiwan (since the early 1980s), and China (since the early 1990s) began to emphasize the role of R&D activities and technology intensive industries in economic development, and to pursue R&D promotion policies actively (Jung and Mah 2013;Kim and Mah 2009).…”

“…It also constructed nation-wide science parks promoting cooperation between academia, public research institutes, and private companies. Through such active R&D promotion policies, the technology level of South Korea has become comparable to that of other major developed countries (Jung and Mah 2013).…”

“…That is, it began to emphasize the development of science parks and the funding of research personnel (Mah 2015;National Science Council 2007, 2, 9-10). Since the 2000s, Korea also withdrew some of the tax incentive programs targeting R&D activities in certain industries (Jung and Mah 2013).…”

Impediments to Sustaining South Korea’s Economic Development: Pathologies of Cooperation in Intra-Team Dynamics of Technology Commercialization

“…Previous research on South Korea's TTC policy and process highlights several issues of top-down policies including the dominant role of public research institutions over private partners, the dominance of conglomerate research and development (R&D) organizations in benefiting from public R & D more than SMEs, top-down project allocations, low (inappropriate) budget allocations, low monitoring, low job satisfaction rates and high turnovers of TTC staffers [35][36][37]. Qualitative research focused on inner details of the TTC professionals work has also highlighted three prominent issues with Korean TTC policy and process: (1) The role of government and powerful officials wielding influence over strategic and operational decisions; (2) the perceived level of conflicts that arise from goal multiplicity; and (3) problems associated with fairness of group-based rewards policies and their distribution [10].…”

A Study on the Determinants of R&D Efficiency in Government-supported Research Institutes Using Tobit

“…In order to secure competitiveness in the area of science and technology, the Korean government and the corporate sector have consistently increased spending on research and development [1]. The government has expanded its expenditure on government-supported research institutes (GRIs) centered on national-level research projects together with private-sector investment [2] [3].…”