Public-Private Partnership as an Instrument to Promote Innovation: Defining an Analytical Framework

The scientific literature recognizes the key role of innovation in any country's growth and economic development. We are facing a growth model based on knowledge and one of its most concrete expressions is technological innovation. It's therefore evident that the more capable countries in promoting efficiently the activities included in this paradigm will be the better positioned to create richness and increase their citizen's welfare. This objective poses important challenges and opportunities for those public and private actors that shape the national innovation system and are responsible for generating the necessary knowledge to innovate and for the system's governance. Through the review of the literature that analyzes the relations between public and private actors, this article concludes that collaboration between them is both necessary and beneficial. A conceptual framework is proposed to define public-private partnerships in the innovation field and to analyze the specific instruments of public intervention included in this concept.