Technological change is today central to the theory of economic growth (Teixeira and Fortuna, 2010). It is recognized as an important driver of productivity growth and the emergence of new products from which consumers derive welfare (Verspagen, 2010). Technological change depends not only on the work of scientists and engineers, but also on a wider range of economic and societal factors, including institutions such as intellectual property rights and corporate governance, the operation of markets, a range of governmental policies (science and technology policy, innovation policy, macroeconomic policy,competition policy, etc.), historical specificities, etc. (Teixeira and Lopes, 2012)
