Meritocratic Bureaucracy and National Innovation Performance Across African Economies

Previous comparative studies of countries have relied on cross-sectional regression analyses and suggested a correlation between meritocratic bureaucracy and national innovation. We sought to validate this assumption by examining the relationship between merit-based recruitment practices and objective global innovation in twenty-nine African economies over the past twelve years. However, this study’s analysis based on panel model estimates consistently indicated a mixed and statistically insignificant relationship between meritocratic bureaucracy and national innovation. Further analysis revealed that the relationship was strong for certain African economies during specific years but reversed for others. This ambiguity in the findings raises doubts about the long-term existence of the projected relationship between meritocratic bureaucracy and national innovation performance. The implications of this study point to the need to explore other contextual explanatory factors.