Pablo Sanguinetti | Rethinking Industrial Policies for Argentina: Fostering Innovation and Entrepreneurship

A key driver of productivity growth is the promotion of innovation and entrepreneurship. Using a newly available panel dataset, this paper reviews and evaluates Argentina’s government programs that provide grants, tax incentives, and concessional loans for innovation and R&D projects, with a primary focus on existing firms. It then examines public funding allocated to universities and research institutions. Such grants and budgetary support can affect private-sector innovation and productivity through spillover channels, including technology transfer and public–private partnerships that foster the creation of science-based firms. The paper shows how these public initiatives could be strengthened through closer collaboration with privately managed incubators, accelerators, and venture capital organizations. In the biotechnology sector, these actors have recently played a central role in advancing science-based startups aimed at regional and global markets.

ABOUT OUR GUEST SPEAKER

Pablo Sanguinetti (Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles) is a senior lecturer and researcher in the Department of Economics at the Universidad Torcuato Di Tella (Argentina). Dr. Sanguinetti's research areas include economic development, trade and integration, fiscal federalism, and urban economics. He has published articles in international academic journals such as the Journal of International Economics, Journal of Development Economics, Journal of Urban Economics, Regional Science and Urban Economics, and Economics and Politics. He is also the author of numerous book chapters and reports. Dr. Sanguinetti was a visiting scholar at the Institute of Latin American Studies (ILAS) and the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) at Columbia University, and a visiting professor in the School of International Affairs at Texas A&M University. He currently coordinates the Trade, Integration, and Productivity network of the Latin American Economic Association, of which he has been a member of the Board of Directors. He has served as a member of the board of the National Trade Commission of Argentina and was Chief Economist and Vice President of Knowledge of CAF-development Bank of Latin America.

DISCUSSANT

Maria Micaela Sviatschi, Associate Professor of Economics and Public Affairs, Princeton University