Abstract:

R&D is essential for competitiveness in a global economy and doctorate holders constitute a vital human resource in the research private sector. However, in the recent literature little attention has been paid to measure the doctorate’s employment in the private sector, their role in the public-private research linkages and their effects on the innovation performance of the countries. The recruitment of phd graduates in the private sector should be considered a key avenue in converting publicly funded basic research into commercialized innovations, technological progress and productivity growth. The aim of this contribution is to examine and measure which policymakers are boosting the phd employment especially in the business sector and how these policies affect the r&d and innovation performance of the countries. Our findings suggest that the supply of new phd graduates is highly correlated with the business expenditure on r&d and their employment in the private sector is crucial to increase the knowledge-intensity of the labour force in view of enhancing economic competitiveness and addressing societal challenges. We conclude that most of the countries need to reform government policymakers focusing on R&D expenditures in the business sector to boost the qualified employment of doctorate holders.

Keywords:

R&D, employment of PhD holders, doctorates in private sector, innovation policymakers, HE policymakers, OECD.