Abiodun Egbetokun

I work on how people, ideas and institutions come together to drive innovation and entrepreneurship, especially in developing economies, and on making that research useful for policy and practice.

Themes: economics of innovation and entrepreneurship · economic development · science, technology and innovation (STI) policy
Specialist topics: innovation systems, firm-level innovation, microfoundations of entrepreneurship, industrial development, technology management
Researcher · Evaluator · Policy adviser · Evaluator · Educator

My training spans mechanical engineering, technology management and economics, an unusual combination that shapes both the questions I ask and the methods I use to answer them. I did my PhD in economics, with a specialisation in the economics of innovation, at Friedrich Schiller University Jena, funded by a German Research Foundation (DFG) doctoral fellowship.

Before moving into UK academia, I spent close to two decades at Nigeria's National Centre for Technology Management, where I rose to Deputy Director of Research. That experience gave me a sustained engagement with the practical challenges of innovation policy, technological capability building and economic transformation in developing economies.

I have held research and policy fellowships at the University of Oxford, UNU-MERIT in Maastricht, the Centre for Science, Technology and Innovation Indicators (CeSTII) in South Africa and the Academy of International Affairs NRW in Bonn. I was also a Science Policy Fellow supported by the US National Science Foundation. From 2019 to 2021, I served as President of the Nigerian Young Academy.

Today, my work spans research leadership (including postgraduate training), international policy advisory work and programme evaluation.

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