A dynamic view on the Latin American innovation system at continental, national, and local level

Latin American innovation systems have been widely characterized by their peripheral insertion in global knowledge systems, a weak internal connectivity, expressed in high fragmentation, and a relatively high outward orientation that, while facilitating access to external knowledge, inhibits the strengthening of local linkages. These general patterns have been identified in a rich theoretical and empirical literature based on the analysis of national and local innovation systems in Latin America. However, the literature has not yet taken a continental approach to this issue. This article sheds new light on this topic by analysing knowledge creation and knowledge appropriation interactions at local, national, and continental levels. Using social network analysis applied to patent data between 1972 and 2019, we show that the structural features of Latin American innovation systems present heterogeneities according to the geographical scale analysed. We analyse these results, discussing the relative immaturity of the Latin American continental system.