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Universities are now at the centre of the knowledge economy, and they do innovate, but Ethiopian universities have not done much of it. The overall goal of this paper is thus to investigate the innovative behaviour of Ethiopian public universities, with a particular focus on determining the driving forces of innovation and research output in Ethiopian public universities. The determinant factors of innovation activities were analyzed by using panel data analytical frames, with innovation and research output measured in patents and publications, respectively. The data were gathered from Ethiopian public universities between the years 2016 and 2020, with a sample of 24 universities chosen purposely. The result reveals that research output is affected by age of university, number of collaborations with international universities, research funding, number of PhD programmes, and number of research projects done. Innovation is also affected by the number of programmes and the number of MSc/MA staff. To improve research output and innovation in Ethiopian public universities, the study recommends increasing research budgets, strengthening collaboration with international universities, and expanding PhD programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A regulatory framework is among the major factors that determine the innovative capacity of a nation. It may block or ease innovative performance; it may scare away skills and expertise or may reverse brain drain and waste, it may attract and retain investment or lead to relocation of investors. The Ethiopian Biosafety Proclamation of 2009 has come under thorough scrutiny from all sides for its effect on innovation in biotechnology in Ethiopia. While it was expected to introduce a creative mechanism of compliance with international environmental agreements without upsetting the promising biotechnology research in Ethiopia, it conspicuously failed to strike a balance between the imperatives of promoting innovation and protecting humans and biodiversity. Contrary to the claims of the architects of the Proclamation, the legislation hardly entertained any national indigenous input other than adopting a more stringent version of the parent law—the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety.The article examines the Ethiopian Biosafety law and its impact on innovation in biotechnology and other emerging technologies that go by other names. It will discuss some striking parallels between EU biotechnology regulation and the Proclamation and in particular the U-turns Europe is taking. Broader issues of the linkage between regulation and innovation policy and the imperatives of expediting innovation are emerging as Ethiopia takes the road Europe is abandoning and even international biosafety regulation is revising. It will argue that the promotion of the responsible development of biotechnology in Ethiopia needs to be reinstated as a priority and not pushed aside as secondary interest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]