Absorptive capacities approaches for investigating national innovation systems in low and middle income countries

This review article covers some of the founding literature that helps develop our understanding of the National Innovation System (NIS) concept. Subsequently, several versions of NIS, including system-functional approaches, are discussed and compared with narrow research and development (R&D) and market-based approaches. Finally, the article contends that the system-functional and other narrow approaches are limited in application to the developing low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Thus, it makes a case for more inclusive absorptive capacity approaches and explains how they might be more relevant in investigating the NIS of an LMIC. Such approaches suggest LMICs be strategic in building their innovation base and plead for strong local conditions (capacities) to produce knowledge as well as capture and improvise on incoming knowledge from abroad. The research is important as it provides insights into analyzing and capturing innovation processes in LMICs, which are prime candidates for development and innovation studies and practice.