Browsing by Author "Baeza-Gonzalez, Sebastian"

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    Neostructural innovation and directionality in Chilean salmon aquaculture
    (ELSEVIER SCI LTD, 2023) Barton, Jonathan R.; Baeza-Gonzalez, Sebastian; Hopp, Joaquin Zenteno; Roman, Alvaro
    The recent work of Mariana Mazzucato on the role of public funding in economic development seeks to rebalance debates on innovation to highlight the role of the State, as opposed to the dominant narrative of unregulated private initiative. This is particularly relevant for the case of the Chilean salmon industry where, besides the diffusion of technology and management practices by a combination of international agencies and private initiatives, its boom has been supported by considerable national public funding since the 1970s and especially after the transition to democracy in 1990. In this regard, the main argument of this paper is that the innovation system of the Chilean salmon industry should be understood within a neostructural model of economic development. However, although the State has had an essential role in financing and promoting innovation, we found that it has not served as a guiding entity (directionality) for how innovation should be undertaken. This is important to recognise since it helps to explain why the Chilean salmon industry has been able to direct innovation towards its own economic interests without attending to broader social issues related to its operations, despite this public expenditure. The main conclusion is that, due to the type of knowledge developed and how innovations are valued within the sector's innovation system, the goal is to increase volume, reduce costs, and marginally mitigate negative socio-ecological externalities.
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    Techno-dependencies in video games production: A Chilean case study
    (2021) Baeza-Gonzalez, Sebastian
    In recent years video games have become one of the major entertainment industries in the world, attracting millions of players and thousands of companies worldwide to virtual and non-virtual platforms. Middle-income countries such as Chile look at video games and other service sectors as viable industries to promote in the context of their economies, which currently rely on high specialisation in the extraction of natural resources and low value-added manufacturing products. However, a question must be asked: is the video games sector in Chile in danger of repeating similar patterns of dependency showed by those extractive-based industries? The following article explores this issue, deploying a Latin American dependency theory perspective combined with new insights from cognitive capitalism literature. Two main contributions derive from the analysis. First, the use of dependency theory and related literature is still valuable when it comes to understanding the conditions of technological dependency in highly-innovative sectors. Secondly, the analysis of video games sector development in Chile in itself contributes to digital games research and economic geography, as peripheral territories such as Chile are frequently ignored in the ongoing critical and policy discourse of creative/digital industries. Deploying semi-structured interviews with Chilean game developers and governmental agencies, the article evidence forms of dependency on the use of non-proprietary technological tools (game engines and software development kits - SDKs) and the protection of intellectual property (IP) in the centre (publishing schemes).
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    Video games development in the periphery: cultural dependency?
    (2021) Baeza-Gonzalez, Sebastian
    Video games developers engage with their creations, and games in general, in profoundly emotional ways. Since the industry became a mass-market phenomenon, a growing body of research has emerged interrogating the connections between developers and the games they produce and how these connections relate to broader affective issues seen in the cultural and creative industries. Most of the research in this field focuses on core markets such as the United States (US), Europe and Japan, leaving a significant gap of empirical research in peripheral locations. While emotional and affective issues are also present in peripheral games development, games production in these locations is often influenced by core-like global cultural tropes. Drawing on ideas and concepts about immaterial labour and based on semi-structured interviews, the analysis shows that many Chilean developers often see Japanese and North American games as the primary source of inspiration. As a result, the periphery's games are essentially locked into the tropes, themes, and core markets' characters. While this might be viewed as disadvantageous, Chilean developers have identified this trait as a major strength when competing in the global game market.