In Search of a More Innovative Innovation Index for India

Indices are, indeed, interesting innovations in representing complicated economic and social processes. While they provide new avenues of enquiry for the analysts, it enables the policymakers to easily capture complex situations. No wonder we live in a world of indices at the global, national, and subnational levels. The more popular indices include, but are not limited to, the human development index (HDI), entrepreneurship index, ease of doing business index, governance index, and hunger index.

Ever since Joseph Schumpeter discovered the bearing of innovation in the development of capitalist economies, numerous scholars have highlighted the role of science, technology, and innovation (STI) in shaping economic growth and development outcomes. Over the decades, conceptualising and measuring innovation has undergone substantial changes from innovation being narrowly understood as research and development (R&D) investment and patents to a broader approach in­corpor­ating non-R&D measures (Smith 2005; OECD 2005, 2010). Especially notable is the contribution by scholars using the innovation system approach that conceptualised innovation as an outcome of an interactive learning process among different actors at the global, national, subnational, and sectoral levels (Lundvall 1992; Nelson 1993; Edquist 1997). Regardless of the approach used in und­erstanding innovation, the relevance of appropriate indicators of innovation performance cannot be overemphasised in devising innovation policies. Drawing insights from different perspectives in innovation studies, the Global Innovation Index (GII) places different countries across the world with respect to their performance in innovation.