Regional innovation system and economic competitiveness: The case of British Columbia

According to the World Economic Forum (WEF), Canada has the world´s twelfth most competitive economy. Nevertheless, it is not presumptuous to think that The Country is not achieving its full potential. Canada is somewhat an underperformer when it comes to innovation and business sophistication. To boost Canada´s innovation performance is paramount to improve Canada´s competitiveness and ultimately the maintenance of Canada amid the World´s most developed economies. The main objective of this study is to investigate Canada´s innovation capabilities focusing on a smaller unit of analysis - British Columbia. This paper includes a thorough literature review linking innovation, productivity, and economic competitiveness. Secondly, this study investigates the current status of innovation in British Columbia. Lastly, this study makes recommendations to be applied to British Columbia aiming at helping improving Canada´s innovation performance.