Why Research Partnerships Really Matter: Innovation Theory, Institutional Arrangements and Implications for Developing New Technology for the Poor

World Development, Volume 29, Number 5, May 2001, pp. 783-797(15)

This paper explores the conceptual basis of existing and emerging patterns of agricultural research institutional arrangements in the context of partnership arrangements and technology development. Drawing on lessons from the debate concerning the innovation process in other research and economic sectors. The paper draws examples from a series of studies of private enterprise activity in the small holder horticultural sector in India undertaken over the past 2 years. Findings suggest that despite the policy focus on public sector research institutes with its hierarchical arrangements, more frequently innovation is taking place at the interface of research and production “institutions”. This suggests that a wider set of actors and institutions is involved in the innovation process. It is concluded that the concept of “national systems of innovation”, which views these different actors as nodes in an integrated innovation system, may provide a useful framework for understanding the role and performance of partnerships in the context of technology development. Only by developing a clear understanding of the theoretical basis for the institutional linkages that are emerging can the innovation potential of partnerships be focused on the poor.