Why I will vote for the Science Party

A party that understands it is scientific and technological innovation that sustainably improves the lives of all

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Economic historians benefit from studying the longue durée, which is a fancy way of saying that we focus on the undercurrents of history rather than just the daily events. And the undercurrent that explains the remarkable improvements in our standards of living over the last two centuries – from having 1 in 4 kids die before the age of five to 1 in 20, to name just one metric – is crystal clear: it is through scientific innovation that improves our productivity, and then allowing entrepreneurs (and, yes, governments too) to leverage these innovations to create new industries, improve existing ones, and drive economic growth.

So, if it is science that makes us prosperous, then the main question we should ask political parties in the upcoming elections should be: What will you do to boost science and innovation if elected? Yet that is a question no journalist has asked South Africa’s politicians-in-waiting, perhaps because the answers are predictable or, more likely, because they think the answers won’t matter to voters. Our best guide to parties’ science plans, then, comes instead from election manifestos, those wish lists, rarely read and even more rarely kept, that parties put out to announce their priorities to the electorate.

I downloaded the election manifestos of what I consider to be the top 8 political parties most likely to govern or farm an alliance: the ANC, DA, EFF, RiseMzansi, ActionSA, IFP, MK and FF+. I then search for anything related to ‘science and innovation’. I was surprised at what I found.

The political party that pays – by far – the most attention to science and innovation is the EFF. Even if you were to control for the much larger size of the EFF manifesto, the proportion they dedicate to a discussion of ‘science and innovation’ policy is much greater than the rest.

What do they propose? Some of it is very sensible. For example, an EFF government will invest in ‘state-of-the-art research facilities, laboratories, and technology parks’ and ‘roll out free wifi in all schools, institutions of higher learning, and public parks’ and even ‘build a specialist technology university or institute whose primary focus will be technological innovation’. But, frustratingly, some of it also verges on the edge of ridiculous: An EFF government will ‘establish artificial intelligence, robotics, and biotechnology SOEs, creating 45,000 jobs by 2024, 23,000 of which will be reserved for women and the youth’ and ‘build 90 astronomical observatory centres to encourage young people to study astronomy by 2025’ and ‘compel multinational technology companies such as Bolt, Twitter, Facebook and others to have headquarters here in South Africa and hire people in South Africa’. I say ‘frustratingly’ because the seeming scientific-ness of what can only be thumb-sucked numbers around some of these naïve proposals undermines the importance of the issue and the credibility of the party.

There is, of course, a large literature on the best government policies to nurture scientific and technological innovation. A 2021 NBER Working Paper by Kevin Bryan and Heidi Williams, since published in the Handbook of Industrial Organisation, spells out several useful lessons.

The first lesson is that, though government funding is vital, it should be seen as a way to leverage private sector investment into R&D. Subsidies can help. Direct funding programmes, particularly for small firms, have shown positive effects on firms’ probability of receiving venture capital support and increasing patenting and revenue.

The second lesson is that innovation can be incentivised across several government departments. Let’s discuss a few. In competition policy, the market structure of an industry can promote or discourage innovation. More competition can boost innovation by forcing large corporations to bring new products to market faster. However, industry leaders in innovative industries may acquire competing products so as to limit competition. Competition policy should curtail such acquisitions to ensure that competing products continue to be developed. One solution is to encourage intermediate market structures: the authors show that innovation is maximised in markets with intermediate industry profits, where Schumpeterian profits are high, but also where firms are incentivised to try to ‘pull away’ from competitors.

Or consider labour policies. Open immigration policies, like those historically in the US, have supported the country in being a magnet for educating and employing foreign-born individuals in science and engineering fields. Another lesson is that policies that limit the enforceability of non-compete agreements can encourage labour mobility and spinouts from existing firms, fostering innovation.

In education policy, rather than building new universities, policies that support university innovation can make a large difference. One example from the US is the Bayh-Dole Act, which allows universities to obtain patents on federally funded research. However, careful consideration is needed to balance the rights between universities and individual researchers.

Even tax and intellectual property policies can help. Tax-based subsidies, such as R&D tax credits, are a market-oriented response that leaves the choice and pursuit of R&D investments with the private sector, increasing research investments by reducing costs. Another proposal is patent boxes, which apply a lower tax rate to revenues linked to patents. While they may incentivise R&D, they also risk inducing tax competition and shifting the location of research investments rather than increasing aggregate R&D. Optimal sequential invention depends on early inventors having patents covering later inventions and the ability to identify future inventors before they sink R&D costs.

Reading through the election manifestos of South Africa’s political parties, it’s clear that all is not lost for South Africa if it hopes to implement some of these lessons from elsewhere. I asked ChatGPT to summarise into three bullet points the science proposals as per the manifestos. Here is its response:

Invest in People and Improve Education: Enhance access to quality education, health and basic services. Improve STEM teaching, reform the education system, and align with global skills requirements. Increase science and technology intake at higher education institutions, and provide students with laptops and high-speed internet.

Use Science and Innovation for Development: Support green technologies, climate change adaptation and decarbonisation. Boost R&D spending in industrialisation and advanced technologies (e.g., AI, blockchain, VR/AR). Build state-of-the-art research facilities, technology parks, and special economic zones, and incentivise innovation through grants and fellowships.

Foster Development of New and Existing Industries: Strengthen local innovation systems, especially in green energy. Foster industry development through university and research partnerships. Expand skills programmes in data analytics and AI, establish venture capital funds for start-ups, incentivise private R&D spending, and promote research commercialisation.

Not bad. In fact, these policies largely align with the current understanding and recommendations in the field of government innovation policy, as per Bryan and Williams. There are some gaps, of course, particularly regarding the mechanisms for technology transfer and the empirical evaluation of policy effectiveness. But maybe through a Government of National Unity, one that pools the collective wisdom of all eight political rivals, we can get the South African Science Party, one that understands that, in the long run, it is scientific and technological innovation that boosts economic growth, sustainably improving the lives of ordinary South Africans.

An edited version of this article was published on News24. Support more such writing by signing up for a paid subscription. The image was created with Midjourney v6.