Latest / The Productivity Podcast with Fexingo: Output, Efficiency, and Long-Term Economic Growth
Why South Korea Built the World's Most Productive R&D Sector
South Korea spends more on research and development as a share of GDP than any other country — 4.8 percent in 2024, compared to the US at 3.5 percent and the OECD average of 2.7 percent. But the real productivity story isn't the spending level; it's how the money is structured. Lucas and Luna break down the chaebol-university pipeline, the role of the Korea Institute of Science and Technology Evaluation and Planning (KISTEP), and why South Korea produces more patents per researcher than Japan or Germany. They also explore a surprising downside: diminishing returns on R&D investment…
The skinny
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