5th RIE Conference

12th Conference on Model-based Evidence on Innovation and Development (MEIDE)

29 and 30 of November and 1 December 2021

Download the programme

UNU-MERIT, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and the Formal and  Inclusive Economy Alliance (Alianza EFI) announce that the 5th Conference of the Network of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Economics in Latin America and the Caribbean (RIE by its acronym in Spanish) and the 12th Conference on Model-based Evidence on Innovation and DEvelopment (MEIDE) will be held together virtually between 29 November and 1 December 2021.

The aim of these conferences is to bring together researchers from Latin America and the Caribbean and colleagues from around the world to discuss various aspects of innovation and its relation to economic development at the micro, meso or macro level. Priority will be given to empirical papers, but there is also room for methodological and theoretical papers. Innovation is to be understood broadly as any kind of innovation in what new or established firms, households, communities, and governments do, or in the way they operate. It also includes knowledge creation, diffusion, measurement, and evaluation issues.

Development comprises growth but also welfare, poverty alleviation, environmental concerns, and fairness in the distribution of wealth/income. The submission of research in progress will be accepted through an extended abstract showing preliminary results.

This year a few sessions will be devoted to papers making use of the Latin American Innovation Surveys dataset (LAIS), recently developed by the IDB.

Submissions due 15 October 2021


Scientific Committee

  • Roberto Álvarez (Universidad de Chile)
  • Erika Badillo (Universidad Autónoma Latinoamericana)
  • Alison Cathles (IDB)
  • Carmen Contreras (Technology and Management Centre for Development)
  • Juan Miguel Gallego (Universidad del Rosario)
  • Matteo Grazzi (IDB)
  • Micheline Goedhuys (UNU-MERIT)
  • Pierre Mohnen (UNU-MERIT and Maastricht University)
  • Simone Sasso (European Commission – Joint Research Centre)
  • Tania Treibich (Maastricht University)
  • Fernando Vargas (IDB)
  • Fabiana Visentin (UNU-MERIT)

Organising Committee

  • Erika Badillo
  • Mateo Cardona
  • Juan Miguel Gallego
  • Pierre Mohnen
  • Godsway Tetteh
  • Fernando Vargas

Important dates:

Submission deadline: 15 October 2021.
Notification of acceptance: 31 October 2021.
Conference: 29-30 November – 1  December 2021

This event is possible thanks to the generous support provided by UNU-MERIT, the IDB and Alianza EFI.


UNU-MERIT