TECHNICAL
NOTES
Экономические науки/14. Экономическая теория.
PhD candidate Algiev S.K.
Kazakh British Technical University
Moving Toward Knowledge-Based
Economy: Kazakhstan experience.
Кандидат на степень
PhD Алгиев С. К.
Казахстанско - Британский технический
университет, Казахстан.
Продвижение
к наукоемкой экономике: Казахстанский опыт.
Abstract
To succeed in this increasingly competitive and global economy,
countries must transform effectively into knowledge-based economies (KBE) that
would close the gap between more advanced countries and developing economies.
In order to reach this goal the countries have to have advanced information and
communication technology infrastructure, a highly educated workforce, dynamic
research and innovation programs, and supportive regulatory environment. This
article reviews existing Kazakhstan’s indicators with respect to innovation
systems initiatives which are one of the four dimensions of KBE.
INTRODUCTION
The global economy is changing, and along with it, the landscape of
economies in Central Asia. Worldwide trend that started in the early 20th
century continues to hold, namely, increasingly greater value is being created
by national economies from services than from industry or agriculture.
Kazakhstan’s government recognizes the need to diversify the economy and create
wealth of the nation through application of human knowledge and creativity
which would steadily outpace wealth creation through extraction and processing
of natural resources. Knowledge, as embodied in human being (as human capital)
and in technology, has always been central to economic development. This paper
thus aims at reviewing the existing frameworks on KBE established by different
international organizations with a view to drawing up an appropriate framework
for Kazakhstan.
THE PILLARS
OF THE KNOWLEDGE-BASED ECONOMY: AN OVERVIEW
To help understand the degree to which an economy is a KBE, relevant
statistical indicators have to be constructed. Unfortunately, there is so far
no internationally agreed framework for measuring a KBE. The issues and
challenges in developing KBE indicators would also be discussed. The World Bank
proposed a widely used KBE model that identifies the four pillars of the KBE:
1.
Education for a skilled workforce;
2.
Science and technology, and innovation;
3.
ICT infrastructure; and
4.
Policy and regulatory environment.
Similarly, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development
(OECD) policy framework for KBE embraces three policy areas:
1.
ICT including communication infrastructure and e-business;
2.
Science, technology, and innovation;
3.
Skills, education, and knowledge-based employment.
The first three core dimensions (innovation, information and communications technology
(ICT) and human capital) are the factors that have been found to significantly
influence national factor productivities. Accordingly, the World Bank had
developed statistics for Central Asian countries consisting of indicators along
each of the four pillars. The characteristics and published indicators are outlined below for each of
these dimensions.
Figure 1: Knowledge-Based Economy Indicators for the Central Asian Region
Source: World Bank, Knowledge Assessment Methodology. Available:
web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/WBI/WBIPROGRAMS/KFDLP/EXTUNIKAM/0,,menuPK:1414738~pagePK:64168427~piPK:64168435~theSitePK:1414721,00.html
The
innovation dimension includes the support for, and performance of, innovative
activities within the economy. Here are some indicators presented for innovation
sector of Kazakhstan:
1)
Innovation
Activity level:
From the
activity level figure 2 shown below it can be concluded that there was a fall
in 2008 in innovation funding due to financial crisis hit all countries. After
year 2008, there is an increase in innovation activities due to fast recovery
from the crisis.
Figure 2:
Activity level in innovation sector in Kazakhstan. (Source: Bureau of
Statistics of Republic of Kazakhstan; www.stat.kz)
2)
Companies
Innovation Activity level:
From the
activity level figure 3 shown below it can be concluded that the highest
innovation activity level among the companies is in Western Kazakhstan region
due high oil gas industry activity level in the region. Other factors that
affect the activity are the regional innovation incentives and special programs
for local content development.
Figure 3:
Companies activity level in innovation for different regions of Kazakhstan.
(Source: Bureau of Statistics of Republic of Kazakhstan; www.stat.kz)
Regions:
1-Akmolisnk; 2- Aktyubinsk; 3- Almaty; 4- Atyrau; 5- Eastern Kazakhstan; 6-
Zhambyl; 7- Western Kazakhstan; 8- Karagandy; 9- Kostanai; 10- Kyzylorda; 11-
Mangistau; 12- Pavlodar; 13- North Kazakhstan; 14- Southern Kazakhstan; 15-
Astana city; 16- Almaty city.
3)
Innovative
product profile:
This
indicator shows the pattern of the innovative product that has been produced
though last eight years in Kazakhstan. From the figure 4 shown below it can be
concluded that new innovation products constantly rising till 2011 with a small
drop in 2011. However, the number of innovative products that undergo small
changes and other minor innovative products was produced are constantly
decreasing. The overall trend for innovative products is promising and there
still a lot of work to be completed.
Figure 4:
Innovative product profile. (Source: Bureau of Statistics of Republic of
Kazakhstan; www.stat.kz)
4)
Funding
profiles for technological innovations:
This
indicator shows funding types for innovative product that has been recorded
though last eight years in Kazakhstan. Figure 5 shows inconsistent pattern for
innovative funding due to different numbers each year. The statistics for last
year, 2011, shows increase in foreign investments, government funding and
R&D institutions budget increase for innovation. As a result of above
increases in investments, it can be concluded that there is a decrease in
company own investment in 2011.
Figure 5:
Funding profiles for technological innovations. (Source: Bureau of Statistics
of Republic of Kazakhstan; www.stat.kz)
Conclusion
Nowadays knowledge has increasingly become an important means for value
creation and national economies are becoming more knowledge-based—economies
where productivity and growth have become more dependent on knowledge. It can
be noted, though, both academicians as well as practitioners—would today still
characterize the KBE as a largely theoretical concept for economic growth and
wealth creation. This is believed to be the case due to the absence of a
common—globally understood and accepted—framework for the KBE and a set of
measurable models and indicators for successful performance. As it was
mentioned earlier in this article, there are frameworks for KBE stated by
leading economic institutions like World Bank Institute (WBI) and OECD.
Different sets of
innovation indicators have been selected from the National Bureau of Statistics
of Kazakhstan and presented accordingly. From the statistics presented it can
be concluded that overall trend in innovation development is promising. Further
studies can be implemented in the other three pillars of KBE (Information and
Communication Technology (ICT), Human Capital development and Regulatory).
REFERENCES
Abramowitz, Moses. 1989. Thinking
about Growth. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Quoted in the Organisation for
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Asian Development Bank (ADB). 2006.
Chen, Derek H.C., and Carl J. Dahlman. 2004. Knowledge and Development,
a Cross-Section Approach. World Bank
Policy Research Working Paper 3366. Washington, DC. August.
Dahlman, Carl. 2002. Knowledge
for Development, Assessment Framework and Benchmarking. Singapore.