Libro Blanco Vol I en Ingles

TOWARDS A NATIONAL INNOVATION STRATEGY FOR COMPETITIVENESSVOLUME 12.3 THE DELICATE ROLE OF THE STATEWhat precise role the State must play in the economy and in society continues to be an open and activedebate in Chile and around the world, driven by two often irreconcilable positions. On the one hand there arethose who think that the market will solve everything, and on the other hand, those who view the State as theinfallible solution.However, in the last 50 years, economic science has explained why and under what conditions marketswork and when they do not. It has provided convincing evidence that, once the roles of each are defined, theState can and should exercise a necessary complementary role to correct the allocation of resources and thedynamization of growth. This does not mean forgetting, however, the theories and evidence that refer to thefailures of the State – lack of coordination or the certain possibility that it be captured by private interestgroups – and with it the possibility that a failed public intervention will damage more so than the lags it seeks torepair.Clearly, since there are is always information or imperfect markets, there is room for the efficiency ofthe intervention of the State to improve. However, given the failures of both, they must act jointly, as partners,with the exact nature of the association being different depending on the country, on its level of political andeconomic development 72 and its culture.In this framework, the market and system failures not only justify but also obligate the State to foster andfacilitate the innovation process and help in the construction of assets that support it. This occurs because,while a significant part of innovation takes place at a private level, the government plays a significant roleregarding the conditions in which innovation activity is undertaken. As indicated in the February report, thisimplies, among other tasks, providing an adequate infrastructure for the system to operate, defining theinstitutional framework for transactions to occur quickly and efficiently, facilitating the construction ofnetworks and articulation among agents and, in general, ensure the necessary coordination for the system as awhole to function coherently.Thus understood, the creation of institutions that assure the national articulation of the innovationendeavour is a task in which the State plays a key role, making the sense of the technological endeavour, itspertinence, coordination, goals and evaluation mechanisms explicit. This not only provides sense to the work ofWhile it is true that much of innovationis carried out privately, the governmentshould provide the appropriateinfrastructure for the system to operateand the institutionality for transactionsto occur quickly and efficiently, tofacilitate the construction of networksand the articulation between actorsand, in general, to ensure the necessarycoordination for the system to functioncoherently.Since there is imperfect information ormarkets, there is room for Stateintervention to increase the efficiency ofmarkets. Given the failures of the marketand the State, both must act jointly,respecting their corresponding spheres.72 Op. Cit.88