Technology and Innovation Management Risk Management Timber
Technological development is imperative for economic, social and environmental prosperity. The New Growth Theory and the knowledge economy theory has received widespread acceptance in modern society. New knowledge generation plays a critical role in achieving the growth objectives argued in these theories. Thus, the race for new knowledge is on. Universities play a critical role in generating and transferring knowledge. Third-generation universities are expected to focus more on developing knowledge with application potential, transfer it to industry, and affect the application through entrepreneurial activities. The doctorate is the apex qualification within universities, and thus the expected change in universities' role in society also has implications for doctorate production and supervisory development and models. This study evaluated the association of doctorate capacity with research output and economic prosperity using open-access databases. The study found that there is a significant and strong positive association between all three of these aspects. The study also analysed historic international patterns and African patterns. Research output and economic prosperity have grown from 2000 to 2018, but recent declines in research output intensity in the USA have significantly impacted international research output intensity. The decline that was observed from 2014 to 2018 coincided with an economic prosperity decline in Africa. This study didn't attempt to confirm causality between the multiple factors considered, but it did illustrate a strong association between new knowledge generation and economic prosperity.
