Economic analyses of industrial research institutes in developing countries: the Indian experience

Recent changes in the Indian government's economic policies have raised questions about the performance of its Industrial Research Institutes (IRIs). Regression tests, with data supplied by three of the IRIs, show a modest, but significant, improvement in their performance. One IRI has increased its earned revenues by more than the increases in its expenditures and has also more than offset the cuts in government funding. Another IRIs profile of development projects showed a significant shift from collaborative to sponsored projects and the latter have lower developmental costs, for given duration. The third IRI has succeeded in attracting a larger number of client enterprises and also increased the overall sales of its new developments. These improvements in the IRIs performance may also have enhanced wider aspects of economic welfare, though further policies to spread these benefits are desirable. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.