Our paper's geographic scope is the Lao People'sDemocratic
Republic (Lao PDR, or Laos). It is characterized by the
aforementioned LDC-typical innovation-hampering circumstances,
as these numbers illustrate: The average literacy is
76% (men) and 53% (woman). In rural areas 32% of themen and
53% of the women never attended school (Peters, 1995). Laos
ranks 147 out of 162 countries in the ArCo technological
capabilities ranking (Archibugi and Coco, 2004); 131 of 160 in
the 2014 World Bank Logistics Performance Index measuring
transport infrastructure quality (Arvis et al., 2014); 160
of 174 in Transparency International's 2012 Corruption
Perceptions Index (Transparency International, 2013); and
163 out of 185 in the World Bank's, 2013 Ease of Doing
Business Report's ranking (The World Bank, 2013). Additionally,
Laos is characterized by a high ethnical and cultural
diversity (Fearon, 2003).