Exploring the Interrelationship between Scientific Knowledge and Economic Growth in Serbia: Empirical Insights

Main Article Content

Nikola Vasilić
Petar Veselinović

Abstract

The primary objective of this study is to examine the nature of the relationship between the production of scientific knowledge and economic growth in Serbia during the period 1996-2022. For this purpose, the Vector Autoregression approach, along with the impulse response function and forecast error variance decomposition, was employed. Results suggest an impact of economic growth on the production of scientific knowledge, while no impact in the opposite direction is detected. The Serbian government should persist in investing in science and work closely with the scientific community to overcome barriers to scientific knowledge's full contribution to economic prosperity.

Article Details

Section

Articles

References

Aghion, P., & Howitt, P. (1992). A Model of Growth Through Creative Destruction. Econometrica, 60(2), 323–351.

Antonelli, C., & Fassio, C. (2016). Academic knowledge and economic growth: are scientific fields all alike?. Socio-Economic Review, 14(3), 537–565. https://doi.org/10.1093/ser/mwv025

Ashley, R. A., & Verbrugge. R. J. (2009). To difference or not to difference: a monte carlo investigation of inference in vector autoregression models. International Journal of Data Analysis Techniques and Strategies, 1(3), 242–274.

Azmeh, C. (2022). Quantity and quality of research output and economic growth: empirical investigation for all research areas in the MENA countries. Scientometrics, 127, 6147–6163 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-022-04512-5

Barrett, P., Hansen, N. J., Natal, J. M., & Noureldin, D. (2021). Why Basic Science Matters for Economic Growth?. Available at: https://www.imf.org/en/Blogs/Articles/2021/10/06/blog-ch3-weo-why-basic-science-matters-for-economic-growth

European Commission (2022). Evidence-informed policymaking: a new document to foster discussion on a better use of scientific knowledge in policy. Available at: https://joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu/jrc-news-and-updates/evidence-informed-policymaking-new-document-foster-discussion-better-use-scientific-knowledge-policy-2022-10-26_en

Gospodinov, N., Marı́a Herrera, A., & Pesavento, E. (2013). Unit roots, cointegration, and pretesting in VAR models. In: Fomby, T.B., Kilian, L., & Murphy, A. (Eds.), VAR Models in Macroeconomics—New Developments and Applications: Essays in Honor of Christopher A. Sims. Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 81–115.

Hatemi-J, A., Ajmi, A. N., El Montasser, G., Inglesi-Lotz, R., & Gupta, R. (2016). Research output and economic growth in G7 countries: new evidence from asymmetric panel causality testing. Applied Economics, 48(24), 2301–2308. https://doi.org/10.1080/00036846.2015.1117052

Inglesi-Lotz, R., Chang, T., & Gupta, R. (2015). Causality between research output and economic growth in BRICS. Quality & Quantity, 49(1), 167–176.

Inglesi-Lotz, R., & Pouris, A. (2013). The influence of scientific research output of academics on economic growth in South Africa: An autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) application. Scientometrics, 95(1), 129–139.

Jin, J. C., & Jin, L. (2014). On the relationship between university education and economic growth: The role of professors’ publication. Education Economics, 22(6), 635–651.

Kilian, L., & Lütkepohl, H. (2017). Structural Vector Autoregressive Analysis. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Kim, Y. K., & Lee, K. (2015). Different impacts of scientific and technological knowledge on economic growth: Contrasting science and technology policy in East Asia and Latin America. Asian Economic Policy Review, 10(1), 43–66.

Lee, L. C., Lin, P. H., Chuang, Y. W., & Lee, Y. Y. (2011). Research output and economic productivity: A Granger causality test. Scientometrics, 89(2), 465–478.

Lucas, R. E. (1988). On the mechanics of economic development. Journal of Monetary Economics, 22, 3–42.

Martin, B., Salter, A., Hicks, D., Pavitt, K., Senker, J., Sharp, M., & Von Tunzelmann, N. (1996). The Relationship between publicly funded basic research and economic performance: A SPRU Review. HM Treasury, London.

Ntuli, H., Inglesi†Lotz, R., Chang, T., & Pouris, A. (2015). Does research output cause economic growth or vice versa? Evidence from 34 OECD countries. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 66(8), 1709–1716.

Odhiambo, N. M., & Ntenga, L. (2016). Research publications and economic growth in South Africa: An empirical investigation. International Journal of Social Economics, 43(7), 662–675.

Ogot, M., & Onyango, G. M. (2023). Does Universities’ Research Output Aligned to National Development Goals Impact Economic Productivity? Evidence from Kenya. Journal of Asian and African Studies, 58(6), 1005-1020. https://doi.org/10.1177/00219096221080196

Oluwatobi, S., Olurinola, I., Alege, P., & Ogundipe, A. (2020). Knowledge-driven economic growth: The case of Sub-Saharan Africa. Contemporary Social Science, 15(1), 62–81.

Romer, P. M. (1990). Endogenous technological change. Journal of Political Economy, 71–102.

Romer, P. M. (1986). Growth based on increasing returns due to specialization. American Economic Review, 77, 56–62.

Rosenberg, N., & Nelson, R. R. (1994). American universities and technical advance in industry. Research Policy, 23(3), 323–348.

SCImago. (n.d.). SJR – SCImago journal & country rank [Portal]. http://www.scimagojr.com

Sims, C. A. (1980). Macroeconomics and reality. Econometrica, 48, 1–48.

Solarin, S. A., & Yen, Y. Y. (2016). A global analysis of the impact of research output on economic growth. Scientometrics, 108, 855–874. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-016-2002-6

Solow, R. (1957). Technical Change and the Aggregate Production Function. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 39(3), 312–320

Solow, R. (1956). A Contribution to the Theory of Economic Growth. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 70(1), 65–94.

World Bank (2024). World Development Indicators. https://databank.worldbank.org/source/world-development-indicators

World Economic Forum (2023). Global Innovation Index. Available at: https://www.wipo.int/edocs/pubdocs/en/wipo-pub-2000-2023-en-main-report-global-innovation-index-2023-16th-edition.pdf