Assessing the relationships between human capital, innovation and technology adoption: Evidence from sub-Saharan Africa

•The overall mean estimates for SSA countries over the period shows a decline of 0.08% for innovation and a moderate increase of 1.7% for the adoption of technology.•Many countries in the SSA sample experienced technical regress, but the estimates for most countries showed an improvement in adoption of technology.•Human capital appears to exert a positive and statistically significant impact on adoption of technology whilst, its effect on innovation is found to be insignificant.

In spite of growing body of research on human capital and innovation, our understanding of the effects and roles of human capital in enhancing innovation and technology adoption in the developing world particularly sub-Saharan Africa remains limited. Using a sample of 45 sub-Saharan African countries from 1960 and 2010, we measure innovation and technology adoption using the Malmquist productivity index approach, and examine the effects of human capital on innovation and technology adoption using different panel data techniques. The study uncovers that the overall mean estimates over the period shows a decline of 0.08% for innovation and a moderate increase of 1.7% for the adoption of technology. Indeed, many countries in the sample experienced technical regress or decline in innovation, but the estimates for most countries showed an improvement in adoption of technology. Human capital appears to exert a positive and statistically significant impact on adoption of technology whilst, its effect on innovation is found to be insignificant.