OECD Reviews of Innovation Policy OECD Reviews of Innovation Policy : Mexico 2009

How are a country's achievements in innovation defined and measured, and how do they relate to economic performance?

What are the major features, strengths and weaknesses of a nation's innovation system?

How can government foster innovation?The OECD Reviews of Innovation Policy offer a comprehensive assessment of the innovation system of individual OECD member and non-member countries, focusing on the role of government.

They provide concrete recommendations on how to improve policies that affect innovation performance, including R&D policies.

Each review identifies good practice from which other countries can learn. Over the past decade, Mexico has made significant progress towards macroeconomic stability and has undertaken important structural reforms to further open the economy to trade and investment, and improve the functioning of markets for goods and services.

However, potential gross domestic product (GDP) growth remains much too low to reduce widespread poverty and bridge the wide gap in living standards with wealthier OECD countries.

One important reason for this is that public and private decision makers in Mexico have been slower than those in many competing newly industrialising economies to realise the importance of investment in innovation as a driver of growth and competitiveness.

In recent years, a number of policy initiatives have been developed to accelerate the transition toward an innovation-fuelled growth path, but their impact has so far been too limited. This book assesses the current status of Mexico's innovation system and policies, and identifies where and how the government should focus its efforts to improve the country's innovation capabilities. More information about the OECD Reviews of Innovation Policy series is available at www.oecd.org/sti/innovation/reviews.