Social Progress and Environmental Performance as Boosters for Innovation in LAC: an Econometric Analysis

Abstract Numerous studies have explored the role of technological innovation in the development of nations. However, these studies often focus predominantly on countries in the Global North, overlooking the interplay between government, industry and university – the Triple Helix helices, and socioenvironmental factors. Even scarcer are studies that examine specifically Latin American and Caribbean countries ( LAC ). In this quantitative study, we apply linear discriminant analysis and panel data analysis to the scores of the GII, EPI , and SPI indices for 127 countries since 2012. Focusing on the results for LAC , our findings highlight the cohesion in innovation among the countries in the region and indicate a positive relationship between innovation and environmental performance. However, conversely, an increase in innovation scores tends to correlate with a reduction in social progress scores. This study contributes to providing a basis for political decisions that consider the Triple Helix thinking, incorporating academia, companies, and the government to better allocate resources towards designing policies to alleviate social and environmental challenges.