How STI-centric myopia marginalises DUI Innovation in Azerbaijan

Abstract Innovation policies in post-Soviet economies often prioritise technology-oriented R&D infrastructures while neglecting the production capabilities that sustain incremental learning and adaptation. Yet the mechanisms leading to this outcome are not theorised in the literature. This paper explains how such a selective focus becomes institutionalised through STI-centric policy myopia, a configuration that narrows policy attention to visible, codifiable, and globally recognisable indicators. Using Azerbaijan as an illustrative case, the study draws on policy documents, media and social-media narratives, and a structured survey of senior officials to trace three reinforcing processes: circumscribed policy discourse, which limits the vocabulary through which innovation can be imagined; indicator-driven tunnel vision, which prioritises metrics and global rankings over capability-deepening reforms; and accretive institutional layering, which adds STI-compatible instruments on top of unreformed organisational cores, gradually locking the system into symbolic, high-visibility pathways. Together, these processes stabilise a reform trajectory in which STI-compatible models appear self-evident, while doing–using–interacting (DUI) modes, despite their relevance in sectors such as agriculture, logistics, and processing, remain peripheral to policy design. Recognising this mechanism clarifies why capability-deepening trajectories fail to materialise even when DUI practices exist in the economy, and it sharpens analytical expectations about reform patterns in developing and post-Soviet systems. The paper therefore offers a conceptual lens for understanding the reproduction of STI-oriented policy agendas and for analysing when and how alternative innovation imaginaries might gain institutional traction.