The Effects of Policies for Training and Skills on Improving Innovation Capabilities in Firms

Skills and innovation are often claimed to be the twin engines of economic growth but there is a surprisingly limited appreciation of how these core features combine and interact both at the firm level and at the interface between tertiary education and industry. Governments around the world, especially in high-income countries, have invested in training schemes and in higher education to improve ‘human resources in science and technology’, as well as to grow the pool of ‘knowledge workers’ equipped with skills of problem-solving and analytical thinking ready to contribute to expanding knowledge-intensive industries. There is thus an apparent consensus that skilled workers in both the public and private sectors are needed to create and diffuse the knowledge needed for successful innovation performance. This report looks at some of the evidence that underpins this consensus.