Erika Kraemer Mbula

@uj.ac.za

Professor, College of Business and Economics
University of Johannesburg

Erika Kraemer Mbula


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https://researchid.co/erikakm

EDUCATION

Doctor of Philosophy in Development Studies, Department of International Development (Queen Elizabeth House) - 2005-2009. Thesis: Building technological capability in developing countries: A study of ICT firms in South Africa Name of University, Supervised by Prof. Sanjaya Lall and Prof. Adrian Wood.
Masters in Science and Technology Policy (with distinction), Science and Policy Research Unit (SPRU) - 2001-2003. Thesis: Building Capabilities: Can Sub-Saharan countries learn from the East Asian experience? Supervised by Prof. Martin Bell.
Degree in Economics, University of Cantabria, Spain - 1995-1999.

RESEARCH, TEACHING, or OTHER INTERESTS

Economics and Econometrics, Development, Multidisciplinary
34

Scopus Publications

3001

Scholar Citations

22

Scholar h-index

41

Scholar i10-index

Scopus Publications

  • Introduction to the Special Section in Honor of Richard R. Nelson
    Marco Grazzi, Erika Kraemer-Mbula, Tania Treibich
    Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, 2026
  • New directions in innovation and development: twenty years of Globelics
    Erika Kraemer-Mbula, Susan Cozzens, Andrew Cummings, Michiko Iizuka, Rasmus Lema, Marina Szapiro
    Innovation and Development, 2026
    This paper takes stock of twenty years of Globelics, a community that has transformed how innovation and development are understood in a global context. It shows how Globelics has contributed to placing the global South more centrally in innovation studies by putting learning, innovation and competence building at the heart of development. Reviewing contributions across five key themes, the paper highlights how Globelics has opened new conceptual and empirical horizons. At the same time, it identifies persistent gaps: limited attention to low-income contexts, the need for better indicators, and the challenge of analyzing innovation in an era of geopolitical tension and climate crisis. Looking ahead, the paper outlines a forward agenda that embraces diverse development pathways, strengthens global analysis, and positions innovation research to confront the defining challenges of our time.
  • Household sector innovation, diffusion failure, and business ownership: Evidence from South Africa
    Jeroen P J de Jong, Max Mulhuijzen, Daniel Cowen, Larry Onyango, Erika Kraemer-Mbula
    Science and Public Policy, 2025
    Individuals in the household sector (HHS) often develop generally valuable innovations but rarely diffuse these. We explored if this diffusion problem generalizes to HHS innovations in developing countries and zoomed in on the role of business ownership to delineate how entrepreneurship stimulates diffusion. In South Africa, we find higher diffusion efforts by citizens than in developed countries: also by freely revealing innovations deemed generally useful. Next, we identified three ways in which HHS innovation is related to business ownership: innovation (1) leads to new businesses (user entrepreneurship), (2) contributes to existing businesses, and (3) can be unrelated to existing businesses, but freely revealed to everyone’s benefit—in that case, business owners leverage their entrepreneurial expertise. In all, the diffusion problem seems more applicable to developed countries, and the role of business ownership in diffusion is more refined than what studies have shown to date.
  • Evolutionary economics and LDCs: An African perspective
    J. Fagerberg, E. Kraemer-Mbula, E. Lorenz
    Routledge Handbook of Evolutionary Economics, 2023
    Evolutionary economists from Joseph Schumpeter onwards have mainly focused on the leading capitalist countries and other highly mature economies. The small set of (mostly Asian) countries that during the last half-century managed to substantially reduce the gap in productivity and income vis a vis the developed part of the world has also received attention. Nevertheless, very little systematic work has been undertaken on the economics of lower-income countries from an evolutionary perspective. This chapter addresses this gap in the literature, with a particular focus on lower-income countries in Africa. First, some central insights from the evolutionary economics literature that potentially may be of high relevance for the task are considered, with a focus on the notion of technological revolutions and, especially, the rapid progress in renewable energy technologies and the so-called digital revolution of the last 10 to 15 years which in interaction may offer great opportunities for transformative change in developing countries. This perspective is then applied on evidence from Kenya and Rwanda, focussing on the impact of recent technological changes as well as the role of policy. It is concluded that evolutionary economics provides us with a suitable set of tools to explore “path-breaking” modalities of development, relying in particular on the transformative power of digital technologies and renewable energies, the importance of a national vision and the institutional framework, but also the changes triggered by the actions of multiple actors and stakeholders. We highlight the central role that governments can play in promoting such changes.
  • Measuring innovation in the informal economy: Current knowledge and open issues
    Erika Kraemer-Mbula
    Handbook of Innovation Indicators and Measurement Second Edition, 2023
    The informal economy is a global and pervasive phenomenon. It provides a significant source of employment and livelihoods, especially for the most vulnerable and marginalised people in society. Despite the usual characterisation of the informal economy as a residual component of the economy, in many developing countries the informal economy is, in fact, the main economy. Informal economic activities are typically described as rudimentary, with little attention to their innovative potential. Research on innovation in the informal economy still represents a relatively new and unexplored frontier, and discussions around measuring it are still in their infancy. One of the difficulties with measuring innovation in the informal economy has to do with defining the boundaries of the informal economy itself. Others have to do with the practicalities of implementing different data collection methods in informal settings. This chapter reviews what we know about measuring innovation in the informal economy, highlighting key issues that remain open or unresolved in order to support the advance of studies in this field of research.
  • Measuring frontier technology adoption in developing countries
    Handbook of Innovation Indicators and Measurement Second Edition, 2023
  • Handbook of innovation indicators and measurement: Second edition
    Gault, Fred 1942-, Arundel, Anthony, Kraemer-Mbula, Erika
    Handbook of Innovation Indicators and Measurement Second Edition, 2023
    Providing nuanced insight into key areas of innovation studies, this erudite second edition acknowledges the significance of innovation within the informal economy. It contributes to the broader scholarly discourse on innovation indicators and measurement, exploring the nature and rate of recent developments within the field. The Handbook of Innovation Indicators and Measurement showcases recent advancements within the field of innovation and provides an expansive commentary on contemporary issues such as the effect of the general definition of innovation on zero price products. Updated chapters emphasise rapid changes brought about by digital developments and provide a further examination of the influence of people on social and frugal innovation. This essential second edition will be valuable for university lecturers and academics of economics, public policy and innovation aspiring to update their course content. It will additionally be beneficial for those working in government departments pursuing more effective policy intervention.
  • Where are innovation indicators and measurement going?
    Anthony Arundel, Erika Kraemer-Mbula, Fred Gault
    Handbook of Innovation Indicators and Measurement Second Edition, 2023
    This chapter takes note of the other chapters in the handbook and their different approaches to the measurement of innovation indicators, with implications for policy development, monitoring and evaluation. Some chapters deal with new methods while others work on breadth of existing methods, including measurement of innovation in economic sectors in addition to the business sector. This view of innovation in economic sectors provides a more comprehensive approach to measurement, including measurement of the public sector, the household sector and individuals. While these measurements are important if innovation indicators are developed, there is also consideration of measurement of innovation in informal activity in all economic sectors. The informal activity is particularly important in developing countries. The chapter includes a view on the future and what could be done in the next decade.
  • Firm Innovation and Employment in South Africa: Examining the Role of Export Participation and Innovation Novelty
    Karmen Naidoo, Marta Bengoa, Erika Kraemer-Mbula, Fiona Tregenna
    Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, 2023
    This paper studies the effects of process innovation and product innovation on firm-level employment in South Africa. We contribute through two novel extensions, analyzing how export status and the degree of novelty of innovation affect the innovation-employment relationship. We find process innovation to be more employment generating than product innovation. Furthermore, both process and product innovations have larger positive effects on employment growth for exporting firms relative to non-exporting firms. Finally, firms that introduce radical innovations that are new to the market, experience a higher positive employment effect than firms that introduce innovations that are new to only the firm.
  • The effects of digital transformation on innovation and productivity: Firm-level evidence of South African manufacturing micro and small enterprises
    Cyrielle Gaglio, Erika Kraemer-Mbula, Edward Lorenz
    Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 2022
    This paper studies the relationships among the use of digital communication technologies, innovation performance and productivity, using an extended version of the Crepon-Duguet-Mairesse (1998) model, for a sample of micro and small enterprises (MSEs) in a middle-income country, South Africa. Based on the results of an original survey carried out in 2019, we investigate these links for a sample of 711 manufacturing MSEs located in Johannesburg. We estimate the relationships sequentially, firstly estimating the relationship between digitalization and innovation, and secondly the relationship between innovation and productivity. Our results show that selected digital communication technologies including the use of social media and of a business mobile phone for surfing the internet have a positive effect on innovation, and that innovation conditional on the use of these technologies has a positive effect on labor productivity. The findings suggest that public programs aimed at fostering inclusive digitalization must consider the types of digital technologies that are most accessible and beneficial to small firms, including those operating informally.
  • Innovation and uneven development: The challenge for low- and middle-income economies
    Raphael Kaplinsky, Erika Kraemer-Mbula
    Research Policy, 2022
  • Technology transfer and absorptive capacities in South Africa's medical device industry
    Tebogo Simon Ramaoka, Erika Kraemer-Mbula
    African Journal of Science Technology Innovation and Development, 2022
  • Innovation and technological change in South Africa
    Erika Kraemer-Mbula, Rasigan Maharajh
    Oxford Handbook of the South African Economy, 2021
  • Innovation and the performance of informal enterprises in developing countries: a gender perspective
    Elvis Korku Avenyo, Erika Kraemer-Mbula
    International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship, 2021
  • Captives of Capital? Exploring economic models as recursive and performative agents
    David R. Walwyn, Erika Kraemer-Mbula
    Energy Research and Social Science, 2021
  • The african development bank: ‘african solutions to african problems’?
    Erika Kraemer-Mbula
    Regional Development Banks in the World Economy, 2021
  • Do Productive Capabilities Affect Export Performance? Evidence from African Firms
    Elvis Korku Avenyo, Fiona Tregenna, Erika Kraemer-Mbula
    European Journal of Development Research, 2021
  • Special Issue: Can innovation address Africa’s challenges?
    Olugbenga Adesida, Geci Karuri-Sebina, Erika Kraemer-Mbula
    African Journal of Science Technology Innovation and Development, 2021
  • Innovation in developing countries: examining two decades of research
    Rasmus Lema, Erika Kraemer-Mbula, Marija Rakas
    Innovation and Development, 2021
  • Are African micro- and small enterprises misunderstood? Unpacking the relationship between work organisation, capability development and innovation
    Erika Kraemer Mbula, Edward Lorenz, Lotta Takala Greenish, Oluseye Oladayo Jegede, Tukur Garba, Musambya Mutambala, Timothy Esemu
    International Journal of Technological Learning Innovation and Development, 2019
  • Gender diversity and enterprise innovative capability: The mediating effect of women’s years of education in Nigeria
    Tukur Garba, Erika Kraemer-Mbula
    International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship, 2018
  • Research excellence in Africa: Policies, perceptions, and performance
    Robert Tijssen, Erika Kraemer-Mbula
    Science and Public Policy, 2018
  • The dynamics of EU-Africa research and innovation cooperation programmes
    Erika Kraemer-Mbula, Constantine Vaitsas, George Owusu Essegbey
    Africa Europe Research and Innovation Cooperation Global Challenges Bi Regional Responses, 2018
  • The Paradoxes of Democracy and the Rule of Law
    Donatella della Porta, Michael Keating, Gianpaolo Baiocchi, Colin Crouch, Sheila Jasanoff, Erika Kraemer-Mbula, Dina Kiwan, Abby Peterson, Kenneth M. Roberts, Philippe C. Schmitter, Alberto Vannucci, Antoine Vauchez, Asanga Welikala
    Rethinking Society for the 21st Century Report of the International Panel on Social Progress Volume 2 Political Regulation Governance and Societal Transformations, 2018
  • Work Organisation, Forms of Employee Learning and National Systems of Education and Training
    Edward Lorenz, Bengt‐Åke Lundvall, Erika Kraemer‐Mbula, Palle Rasmussen
    European Journal of Education, 2016
  • Innovation Hubs in Southern Africa
    Neville Raymond Comins, Erika Kraemer-Mbula
    Innovation Africa Emerging Hubs of Excellence, 2016
  • Cybercrime: A value chain approach
    Howard Rush, Erika Kraemer Mbula
    International Journal of Value Chain Management, 2014
  • The cybercrime ecosystem: Online innovation in the shadows?
    Erika Kraemer-Mbula, Puay Tang, Howard Rush
    Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 2013
  • The group on earth observations
    OECD
    Meeting Global Challenges Through Better Governance International Co Operation in Science Technology and Innovation, 2012
  • Key issues for innovation and development
    OECD, International Development Research Centre
    Innovation and the Development Agenda, 2010
  • Innovation and the development agenda
    OECD, International Development Research Centre
    Innovation and the Development Agenda, 2010
  • The relevance of innovation systems to developing countries
    OECD, International Development Research Centre
    Innovation and the Development Agenda, 2010
  • Adapting the innovation systems framework to Sub-Saharan Africa
    OECD, International Development Research Centre
    Innovation and the Development Agenda, 2010
  • Innovation strategies in developing countries
    OECD, International Development Research Centre
    Innovation and the Development Agenda, 2010

RECENT SCHOLAR PUBLICATIONS

  • New directions in innovation and development: twenty years of Globelics
    E Kraemer-Mbula, S Cozzens, A Cummings, M Iizuka, R Lema, M Szapiro
    Innovation and Development, 1-20 , 2026
    2026
  • Introduction to the Special Section in Honor of Richard R. Nelson
    M Grazzi, E Kraemer-Mbula, T Treibich
    Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, 1-5 , 2026
    2026
  • Household sector innovation, diffusion failure, and business ownership: evidence from South Africa
    JPJ De Jong, M Mulhuijzen, D Cowen, L Onyango, E Kraemer-Mbula
    Science and Public Policy 52 (4), 613-629 , 2025
    2025
  • Hybridization and Introgression between Sympatric Barbus Species in Kenyan Riverine Habitats Connected to Lake Victoria
    L Bornmann, E Kraemer-Mbula, R Tijssen, J Adams, R Haunschild, ...
    2025
  • Transformative innovation in times of change: Lessons for Africa from the 2020 global pandemic
    E Kraemer-Mbula, R Hanlin, R Byrne, C Daniels, A Kingiri
    African Books Collective , 2024
    2024
    Citations: 8
  • 14 Conclusion
    R Hanlin, E Kraemer-Mbula, R Byrne, C Daniels, A Kingiri
    Transformative Innovation in Times of Change: Lessons for Africa from the … , 2024
    2024
  • Evolutionary economics and LDCs: An African perspective
    J Fagerberg, E Kraemer-Mbula, E Lorenz
    Routledge Handbook of Evolutionary Economics, 433-444 , 2023
    2023
    Citations: 2
  • Measuring frontier technology adoption in developing countries
    E Lorenz, E Kraemer-Mbula
    Handbook of Innovation Indicators and Measurement, 260-277 , 2023
    2023
    Citations: 6
  • Measuring innovation in the informal economy: Current knowledge and open issues
    E Kraemer-Mbula
    Handbook of Innovation Indicators and Measurement, 363-374 , 2023
    2023
    Citations: 6
  • Where are innovation indicators and measurement going?
    A Arundel, E Kraemer-Mbula, F Gault
    Handbook of Innovation Indicators and Measurement, 430-432 , 2023
    2023
  • Handbook of innovation indicators and measurement
    F Gault, A Arundel, E Kraemer-Mbula
    Edward Elgar Publishing , 2023
    2023
    Citations: 219
  • Making the invisible visible: Informal innovation in South Africa
    JPJ de Jong, M Mulhuijzen, D Cohen, E Kraemer-Mbula, L Onyango, ...
    United Nations Development Programma (UNDP) , 2023
    2023
    Citations: 4
  • Firm innovation and employment in South Africa: Examining the role of export participation and innovation novelty
    K Naidoo, M Bengoa, E Kraemer-Mbula, F Tregenna
    Emerging Markets Finance and Trade 59 (2), 589-604 , 2023
    2023
    Citations: 15
  • Transformative innovation in times of change: Lessons for Africa from COVID-19
    CDAK Erika Kraemer-Mbula, Rebecca Hanlin, Rob Byrne
    2023
  • The effects of digital transformation on innovation and productivity: Firm-level evidence of South African manufacturing micro and small enterprises
    C Gaglio, E Kraemer-Mbula, E Lorenz
    Technological Forecasting and Social Change 182, 121785 , 2022
    2022
    Citations: 563
  • Technology transfer and absorptive capacities in South Africa's medical device industry
    T Simon Ramaoka, E Kraemer-Mbula
    African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation and Development 14 (5 … , 2022
    2022
    Citations: 11
  • Value Creation and Socioeconomic Inclusion in South African Maker Communities
    C Armstrong, E Kraemer-Mbula
    The African Journal of Information and Communication 2022 (29), 1-25 , 2022
    2022
    Citations: 2
  • Digitalization, innovation and productivity in South African micro and small enterprises
    CA Gaglio, E Kraemer-Mbula, E Lorenz
    2022
    Citations: 7
  • The Innovation and Development Agenda in Africa: Status, Challenges and Perspectives
    MH Andersen, R Hanlin, A Kingiri, E Kraemer-Mbula
    Research Policy , 2022
    2022
  • Innovation and uneven development: The challenge for low-and middle-income economies
    R Kaplinsky, E Kraemer-Mbula
    Research Policy 51 (2), 104394 , 2022
    2022
    Citations: 220

MOST CITED SCHOLAR PUBLICATIONS

  • The effects of digital transformation on innovation and productivity: Firm-level evidence of South African manufacturing micro and small enterprises
    C Gaglio, E Kraemer-Mbula, E Lorenz
    Technological Forecasting and Social Change 182, 121785 , 2022
    2022
    Citations: 563
  • Artificial intelligence (AI) deployments in Africa: Benefits, challenges and policy dimensions
    A Gwagwa, E Kraemer-Mbula, N Rizk, I Rutenberg, J De Beer
    The African Journal of Information and Communication 26, 1-28 , 2020
    2020
    Citations: 268
  • Innovation and uneven development: The challenge for low-and middle-income economies
    R Kaplinsky, E Kraemer-Mbula
    Research Policy 51 (2), 104394 , 2022
    2022
    Citations: 220
  • Handbook of innovation indicators and measurement
    F Gault, A Arundel, E Kraemer-Mbula
    Edward Elgar Publishing , 2023
    2023
    Citations: 219
  • Innovation and the development agenda
    KM Erika, W Watu
    OECD Publishing , 2010
    2010
    Citations: 199
  • The informal economy in developing nations
    E Kraemer-Mbula, S Wunsch-Vincent
    Cambridge University Press , 2016
    2016
    Citations: 166
  • The cybercrime ecosystem: Online innovation in the shadows?
    E Kraemer-Mbula, P Tang, H Rush
    Technological Forecasting and Social Change 80 (3), 541-555 , 2013
    2013
    Citations: 155
  • Research excellence in Africa: policies, perceptions, and performance
    R Tijssen, E Kraemer-Mbula
    Science and Public Policy 45 (3), 392-403 , 2018
    2018
    Citations: 123
  • Innovation in developing countries: examining two decades of research
    R Lema, E Kraemer-Mbula, M Rakas
    Innovation and Development 11 (2-3), 189-210 , 2021
    2021
    Citations: 109
  • Is African industry competing?
    S Lall
    Queen Elizabeth House, University of Oxford , 2005
    2005
    Citations: 102
  • Transforming research excellence: New ideas from the Global South
    E Kraemer-Mbula, R Tijssen, M Wallace, R McLean
    African Minds , 2020
    2020
    Citations: 68
  • Are African micro-and small enterprises misunderstood? Unpacking the relationship between work organisation, capability development and innovation
    E Kraemer-Mbula, E Lorenz, L Takala-Greenish, OO Jegede, T Garba, ...
    International Journal of Technological Learning, Innovation and Development … , 2019
    2019
    Citations: 67
  • Adapting the innovation systems framework to Sub-Saharan Africa
    E Kraemer-Mbula, W Wamae
    Innovation and the development agenda, 65-90 , 2010
    2010
    Citations: 43
  • Work organisation, forms of employee learning and national systems of education and training
    E Lorenz, BÅ Lundvall, E Kraemer‐Mbula, P Rasmussen
    European Journal of Education 51 (2), 154-175 , 2016
    2016
    Citations: 38
  • Do productive capabilities affect export performance? Evidence from African firms
    EK Avenyo, F Tregenna, E Kraemer-Mbula
    The European Journal of Development Research 33 (2), 304-329 , 2021
    2021
    Citations: 33
  • Southern Africa
    E Kraemer-Mbula, M Scerri
    UNESCO science report: towards 2030, 535-65 , 2015
    2015
    Citations: 32
  • Innovation strategies in developing countries
    E Kraemer-Mbula, R Maharajh
    Innovation and the development agenda, 133-151 , 2010
    2010
    Citations: 32
  • Crime online: Cybercrime and illegal innovation
    H Rush, C Smith, E Kraemer-Mbula, P Tang
    2009
    Citations: 31
  • Industrial competitiveness in Africa: lessons from East Asia
    S Lall, E Kraemer-Mbula
    (No Title) , 2005
    2005
    Citations: 31
  • Gender diversity and enterprise innovative capability: The mediating effect of women’s years of education in Nigeria
    T Garba, E Kraemer-Mbula
    International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship 10 (4), 290-309 , 2018
    2018
    Citations: 27