Assessing the socio-economic benefits of public R&D activities in Malaysia

• Main Authors: Abdul Jalil, Ahmad Zafarullah, Abdul Karim, Noor Al-Huda, Hassan, Sallahuddin
• Other Authors: Mohd Sani, Mohd Azizuddin
• Format: Book Section
• Language: English
• Published: College of Law, Government and International Studies, Universiti Utara Malaysia 2010
• Subjects: HC Economic History and Conditions
• Online Access: http://repo.uum.edu.my/2482/1/Dr._Noor_Al-Huda_-_Assessing_the_Socio_Economic.pdf; http://repo.uum.edu.my/2482/; http://icis.uum.edu.my/

As an open economy, Malaysia needs to constantly generate and establish new sources of economic growth in order to remain competitive in the long run. This objective can be achieved if Malaysia is capable of increasing its capacity in the use as well as in the development of science, technology and innovation (STI) through research and development (R&D) programmes. Therefore, the Government of Malaysia has introduced various science and technology programmes for the purpose of encouraging R&D and technological innovation to acquire and to advance technological capability. The existence of such programmes shows that the Government is aware of the importance of R&D towards achieving a more prosperous economy and as such, it has played an active role in promoting R&D in the country. The Government-funded R&D programmes are established for the purpose of generating knowledge, creating wealth, and upgrading societal well-being. The involvement of the Malaysian Government in promoting R&D activities has started since the Fifth Malaysia Plan, 1986-1990 with the introduction of the Intensification of Research in Priority Areas (IRPA) grant. This study used econometric analysis in order to examine the extent to which R&D activities contributed towards social and economic development in Malaysia. Our findings suggest that R&D public investments are important to promote economic growth in a long-term period.