Why is the Brazilian National System of Innovation concept prescriptive

rather than descriptive?

Julia ParanhosFederal University of Rio de Janeiro

Brazil

Main interests

The role of universities on the economic development.

The knowledge and learning dynamics in the industry-

university relationship.

Thesis proposal: study on the Pharmaceutical Sector –

Intense university-industry linkages

Questions: • How does the interaction occurs?

• What are the knowledge creation and learning processes

dynamics?

• What are the stimuli and the benefits for both players?

Paper objective

Analyse Brazilian System of Innovation;

How many companies innovate and what are the

government and universities roles;

Compare Brazilian setting of innovation to the

characteristics identified by Arocena and Sutz (2005),

which indicate that Latin American countries use the

NSI concept in a prescriptive way.

NSI Concept for North and South Countries

“… it may be said that the NSI is an ex post concept which aims at describing syntactically a pre existent reality. On the other hand, in the South where the situations related to the concept are much weaker or inexistent, the NSI is prescriptive rather than descriptive. In other words, it is an ex ante concept”

(Arocena & Sutz, 2003, p. 155, our translation).

Brazilian setting of innovation

5,378 made product innovations

10,890 made process innovation

11,768 made product and process innovations

Data Source: Industrial Survey of Technological Innovation – PINTEC – (2001-2003)

REASONS?

Industrial Firms

total total % total % total %84,262 28,036 33.27 4,941 17.62 2,432 49.22

R&D performer

Firms

Innovative Firms

Systematic R&D

performer firms

First: Government support

n % n % n % n % n % n %28,036 5,232 18.66 204 3.91 238 4.57 398 7.62 3,946 75.42 1,149 21.96

to machines and

equipments purchase

Othersto R&D

Computer Science

Law

Total

Innovative firms wich received government suppot, by programFiscal incentive Finance

to industry-university

relationship research

Government is supporting modernization, rather than innovation (Arruda et al., 2006).

Second: Companies’ finance structure

Own resources

90%

Private sector

5%

Government 5%

R&D activities financing

Third: Interactions

Brazil represented 1.7% of world publications (Science Citation Index) with 13,328 original papers (2004).

Only 106 Brazilian patents at USPTO in 2004.

n % n % n %Universities and research institutes 1,277 4.55 1,067 3.8 25,690 91.63Professional development centres 1,719 6.13 1,818 6.48 24,498 87.38Suppliers 10,469 37.34 6,111 21.79 11,454 40.85Customers 10,429 37.2 4,531 16.16 13,075 46.63

External Actors / RelevanceHigh Medium

Low and not-relevant

North Vs. Latin America

Source: Arocena and Sutz, 2005.

North Latin America

Entrepreneurial behaviour

Entrepreneurial demand for knowledge

High Scarce

Entrepreneurial co-operation Quite strong Very weak

Demand of knowledge

Complexity High: Entrepreneurial universityLow: 'Consultant'

university

Intensity High: Connected university Low: Isolated university

S&T policies

Industrial and science and technology policies

Real although implicit (EUA)/ Real and explicit (Japão e EU)

Apparent and variable

Relation of these policies to economic policies

Compatible Contradictory

Conclusion

What is the point of talking about National System of

Innovation?

Brazilian System of Innovation:

• Immature (Albuquerque e Sicsú, 2000);

• Passive Learning System (Viotti, 2002);

Lack of a structural and articulated system to support

companies on their search for innovation.

Thank you!

4th Globelics AcademyLisbon, May 2007

e-mail: juliaparanhos@yahoo.com