Bridging the Skills and Innovation Gap to Boost Productivity in Latin America

The report identifies a persistent productivity lag in Latin America driven by a mismatch between the education system's output and the skills required by employers, alongside low innovation capabilities. It argues that these gaps are rooted in weak framework conditions, insufficient and uncoordinated investment, and cultural biases. To address these, the World Economic Forum proposes a systemic framework including the strengthening of economic fundamentals, increasing private investment, creating research competency catalogues, and fostering intra-regional talent mobility.

• Latin American economies exhibit a persistent productivity lag compared to advanced and emerging Asian economies; from 2001-2010, only 58% of per capita GDP growth in the region was derived from total factor productivity (TFP), compared to 90% in China and 72% in ASEAN 5 countries.
• There is a significant skills mismatch in the region, with 37% of companies citing the difficulty of finding a workforce with necessary training as a main obstacle. Employers particularly struggle to find workers with 'soft skills' such as critical thinking, teamwork, and problem solving, which are often valued more highly than technical skills.
• Educational access and quality in Latin America are insufficient, with only 30% of students from the poorest quintile and rural areas completing secondary education. PISA 2012 results show that approximately 84% of Latin American students scored at the lowest possible level in mathematics and 80% in science.
• The region's innovation output is low, with high-tech exports accounting for only 7.7% of total manufacturing exports, compared to an OECD average of 14.5%. Patent filings are also minimal; in 2013, Mexico and Brazil combined filed only 894 Patent Cooperation Treaty applications, representing approximately 0.004% of the global total.
• R&D investment in Latin America is significantly lower than in advanced economies, accounting for 0.8% of GDP in 2011, while OECD countries averaged 2.5% and China 1.6%. This investment is primarily driven by the public sector, with low private sector participation.
• The productivity gap is reinforced by a 'vicious cycle' where a lack of skilled workers limits firms' absorptive capacity for innovation, and low levels of innovative activity subsequently suppress the demand for highly skilled workers.
• Root causes of these gaps include weak framework conditions—such as low intensity of local competition and limited availability of capital—as well as a cultural preference for humanities over scientific and technical studies in universities.
• The report recommends ten strategic actions, including the creation of a standardized catalogue of research competencies, the implementation of cross-sectorial vocational training, and the establishment of a regional multi-annual research and innovation fund.

APA

World Economic Forum (2015). Bridging the Skills and Innovation Gap to Boost Productivity in Latin America. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Competitiveness_Lab_Latin_America_15.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. Bridging the Skills and Innovation Gap to Boost Productivity in Latin America. 2015. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Competitiveness_Lab_Latin_America_15.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Economic Forum |title=Bridging the Skills and Innovation Gap to Boost Productivity in Latin America |date=January 2015 |url=http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Competitiveness_Lab_Latin_America_15.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldeconomicforum2015bridging, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{Bridging the Skills and Innovation Gap to Boost Productivity in Latin America}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2015}, month = jan, url = {http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Competitiveness_Lab_Latin_America_15.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }