A Research Agenda for Innovation and Development, edited by Judith Sutz and Rodrigo Arocena and published by Edward Elgar Publishing in 2026, brings together leading scholars to rethink the relationship between innovation and development in a rapidly changing global context.
The book examines why innovation has often failed to translate into improved human wellbeing, particularly in peripheral and developing economies, while also recognizing the social, environmental and democratic challenges associated with innovation in highly industrialized countries. Moving beyond conventional approaches, the contributors understand innovation as a multidimensional process shaped by institutions, human agency, dignity, imagination and specific social and economic contexts.
Across its chapters, the volume explores alternative approaches to development, grassroots and social innovation, technological capabilities, national innovation policies and the changing role of the state. Particular attention is given to different regional experiences, including Latin America, Africa and Southeast Asia, highlighting how structural conditions and institutional diversity influence the direction and developmental impact of innovation.
The book also examines universities as key institutions for developmental and social innovation and revisits the National Systems of Innovation approach in light of contemporary global challenges. Contributions by scholars closely connected to the Globelics intellectual tradition—including Bengt-Åke Lundvall, Helena Lastres, José E. Cassiolato, Gabriela Dutrénit, Erika Kraemer-Mbula and others—reflect the book’s broad North–South dialogue on innovation and development.
Against a backdrop of rising inequality, environmental unsustainability and political uncertainty, A Research Agenda for Innovation and Development calls for transformative approaches capable of directing innovation toward more inclusive and sustainable forms of development. In doing so, the volume provides both a critical assessment of existing approaches and a forward-looking agenda for researchers, policymakers and practitioners working at the intersection of innovation, development and science, technology and innovation policy.
