Competencies and objectives
Course context for academic year 2025-26
The course "Innovation Economics" aims to provide students with knowledge about the economic changes driven by knowledge-based processes and technological transformation.
Specifically, and with an analytical and critical approach, the course addresses the foundations of the economics of innovation — a discipline that studies how technological change, investment in R&D, knowledge diffusion, and capacity building directly impact economic growth, productivity, and the labour market, among other aspects. The course also explores the historical dynamics of innovation and their implications.
Therefore, through the analysis of real cases and established theoretical frameworks, students are expected to understand the strategic role of innovation and to develop a critical and applied perspective on economic and technological transformation processes.
This course is closely related to the rest of the Master's programme, positioning innovation as a transversal axis that applies to any sector: from finance and education to industry, tourism, or public services.
Course competencies (verified by ANECA in official undergraduate and Master’s degrees) for academic year 2025-26
General Competences (CG)
- CG1 : Capacity to find the information needed for advanced research.
- CG2 : Capacity to analyse complex information using quantitative methods.
- CG3 : Apply scientific criteria to analysing problems, based on using the most advanced technical instruments.
- CG5 : Analyse problems using critical reasoning, without prejudices, precisely and rigorously.
Specific Competences (CE)
- CE1 : Capacity to find, revise, select and use academic bibliography and specialised databases dealing with a particular topic.
- CE2 : Capacity to select, design and justify a research project and carry it out using the appropriate scientific methodology.
- CE3 : Use rationality for specialised economic analysis and describing complex aspects of economic reality, paying attention to historical inertia.
- CE6 : Issue specialised reports advising on specific economic situations (international, national or regional) or on sectors of the same.
- CE7 : Identify sources of economic information that is difficult for less specialised researchers to understand and know how to analyse its content.
- CE8 : Capacity to apply the knowledge and skills acquired to solving theoretical and applied economic problems.
- CE9 : Analytical skills to develop theoretical frameworks that simplify the study of the more complex aspects of the real economy, and the capacity to set the appropriate levels of abstraction for studying the most complex economic questions.
Learning outcomes (Training objectives)
No data
Specific objectives stated by the academic staff for academic year 2025-26
- Develop a critical understanding of economic processes linked to innovation, technological change, and their integration into the global economic context.
- Acquire skills to search for and select relevant international economic and technological information using digital tools and specialized databases.
- Become familiar with and apply technological tools that explain sectoral innovation dynamics.
- Understand key concepts of the economics of innovation and knowledge, and their connection to international economics and globalization.
- Be able to analyze and interpret patterns of global economic and technological transformation, highlighting the role of innovation.
- Gain knowledge about the information society, Internet, and technological innovation, and their relevance for productivity, employment, and economic growth.
- Know the main international sources of data and indicators on innovation, R&D, and structural change.
- Understand the different technological waves and their impact on global economic evolution.
- Identify and interpret relevant economic information related to international innovation processes.
- Apply theoretical knowledge to the critical analysis of international economic reality through the lens of innovation.
General
Code:
40607
Lecturer responsible:
Moreno Izquierdo, Luis
Credits ECTS:
5,00
Theoretical credits:
1,00
Practical credits:
1,00
Distance-base hours:
3,00
Departments involved
-
Dept:
Applied Economic Analysis
Area: APPLIED ECONOMICS
Theoretical credits: 1
Practical credits: 1
This Dept. is responsible for the course.
This Dept. is responsible for the final mark record.
Study programmes where this course is taught
-
UNIVERSITY MASTER'S DEGREE IN APPLIED ECONOMICS
Course type: COMPULSORY (Year: 1)

