From technological Institutes to technological funds. An analysis of the transformation of the Argentine State in the 1990s

Abstract

The incentive for technological change for the competitiveness of local companies is one of the objectives pursued by States when they support science and technology institutions. Throughout history, the Argentine State assumed different strategies to deal with this issue. The objective of this paper is to analyze the transformation in the strategies adopted by the Argentine State in response to this question in the 1990s. As many scholars of the subject point out, by the end of the 1950s, the Argentine State was equipped with the capacity to execute and disseminate technologies through the creation of technological institutes. However, starting in the 1990s, this orientation was modified and the issue was addressed through the creation of technology funds whose objective is to promote technological change in companies through financial instruments. The article studies the consequences of this transformation in the structure of the Argentine State and the way in which the relationship with companies was rethought for the purposes of technological development.