Innovation in manufacturing from product variety and labor productivity growth to economic development in Chile

In recent decades the expansion of the Chilean economy has been closely related to the Copper Industry, currently representing over fifty percent of Chilean exports. For the economy to grow sustainably in the long term, knowledge needs to be accumulated in the production process, export needs to be diversified and market competitiveness must be promoted. This work offers an analysis of the Chilean economy focusing on some opportunities and challenges that need to be considered to achieve growth for the following decades. It then contributes to our understanding of the innovative process in the Chilean economy with studies of the relation of knowledge flows and R&D cooperation agreements; product diversification with total output and productivity; and labor productivity with the competitiveness of markets.