Spots of interaction: an investigation on the relationship between firms and universities in Minas Gerais, Brazil

Spots of interaction summarize the nature of partial connections (between science and technology) operating in the Brazilian system of innovation. A pilot study in Minas Gerais, Brazil, uses two new research tools (for immature NSIs) and presents a database with research groups located in universities and a database built upon an adapted version of the pioneering Yale and Carnegie Mellon Surveys. These complementary databases identify spots of interaction, indicating how economic sectors use specific science and engineering fields. This investigation identifies a dual role of universities in immature NSIs, as substitutes and/or complements firms R&D.systems of innovation, underdevelopment, interactions between science and technology, surveys, universities

Eco-innovative food in Brazil: perceptions from producers and consumers

The main focus of this paper is to analyse the production and consumption for eco-innovative food in Brazil. The research can be divided in two parts: the first, focusing in the supply-side, aims to identify food companies’ motivation to adopt eco-innovation, and the second, in the demand-side, to investigate consumer values and attitudes towards eco-innovation. In order to analyse the supply-side, an exploratory phase has been conducted with 13 in-depth interviews with firms and organizations that work with eco-innovative food, green certifications and green food associations. The analysis of the demand-side was carried out through an exploratory phase, with 42 interviews in green and organic fairs and street markets along with a Survey with 401 consumers in traditional Organic Street Markets in Porto Alegre, Brazil. The quantitative data from this stage was analysed with SPSS (univariate statistics). Results indicate that the companies’ mission and strategy are important drivers for the adoption of eco-innovations in the food sector. Technology is an essential input for the supply side, and can act as an important driver to increase the supply of sustainable food, to reduce losses, and to improve environmental sustainability. The eco-innovative market has a great potential to grow and become more competitive, although some barriers still need to be transposed: clearer regulations, logistics, high quality manpower and production of more convenient products for consumers. Results from the analysis of consumers indicate the presence of egalitarian values, and positive attitudes towards environment and technological progress, as well as a positive attitude and intention to buy eco-innovative food. Additional findings points out towards a certain belief on behalf of Brazilian consumers that technology can be a determinant of relevant aspects of eco-innovative foods. This research is of particular academic value, by adding empirical evidence about the relationships that rule how values and general attitudes influence attitudes towards eco-innovative food in the Brazilian food consumption context. Managerial implications are related to the need for companies to remain competitive and profitable, and innovation and environmental sustainability can be used as an alternative to mitigate environmental risks derived from the company’s activities

Ownership and Technological Capabilities in Brazil

Over the last fifty years, foreign-owned firms have played an important role in developing the Brazilian industry. The focus of debate on the impacts of these firms upon technical change in Brazil has been on the use of technology. However, a further understanding of how they can help to deepen local technological capabilities (TCs) is crucial. The research we are developing is an attempt to throw some light on this issue. As part of this task, this paper aims to present some proxies for TCs, comparing foreign- and domestic-owned firms. Farther demonstrating a low technological performance in the Brazilian industry, the figures point to a moderate TCs-building process, both by foreign- and domestic-owned firms. This suggests that foreign-owned firms do not per si mean local accumulation of deeper technological capabilities.Technological Capability, Multinational Companies, Brazilian Industry

Complementarity of Innovation Policies in the Brazilian Industry: An Econometric Study

The paper aims at assessing discrete complementarities in innovation policies in the context of the Brazilian industry in 2003. The paper considers the approach advanced by Mohnen and and Röller [European Economic Review, 2005] that focuses on supermodularity and submodularity tests for obstacles to innovation (in the present application: lack of finance sources, lack of skilled personnel, lack of cooperation opportunities and lack of information on technology or markets). The application avoids micro-aggregation of the data and explicitly considers sampling weights in the econometric estimation. The analysis highlights the two phases of the innovation process in terms of the propensity and intensity of innovation. The evidence, unlike previous evidence, is not totally clear cut in terms of contrasts of the two phases. Nevertheless one can detect some substitutability and complementarity for specific pairs of obstacles in analysing the propensity to innovate, and strong evidence of complementarities in obstacles when considering the intensity of innovation. In the latter case, therefore, the evidence is suggestive and favours the adoption of more targeted incentive policies.supermodularity, complementarities, innovation

Foreign-owned firms and technological capabilities in the Argentinean manufacturing industry

This deals with the technological development implications of the substantial and long-dated presence of foreign-owned affiliates in the Argentinean manufacturing industry. It put forward the argument that the learning process of foreign-owned firms should be central in the analysis of the technological impacts of inward FDI. In other words, FDI impacts to host economies are dependent not exclusively on the technology and knowledge that multinational corporations are willing to transfer to their overseas affiliates, nor on the absorptive capacity of domestic firms. Instead, the technological learning that takes place within the foreign-owned firms is crucial. In order to shed some light on the level of learning reached by foreignowned firms integrating the Argentinean economy, this paper analyses the technological profiles of MNC affiliates in the manufacturing industry, and compares them with those of domestically-owned firms. This analysis is based on proxies for different levels of technological capabilities, calculated by means of the second Argentinean innovation survey, which was carried out by INDEC, the Argentinean National Council of Statistics, for the period 1998-2001. The analysis suggests that foreign-owned affiliates seem to play an important role in terms of diffusion of technologies generated elsewhere. Yet, the results are not so clear when the local generation of knowledge and technology is considered. In general terms, the analytical exercise made here suggests reasonable development of operational capabilities, coupled with shallow interaction, monitoring, improvement and generation capabilities both by foreign affiliates and domestics firms. In other words, the findings suggest the accumulation of substantial capabilities for using existing technologies, but only meagre capabilities for locally-generated new ones.Foreign-owned Affiliates, Manufacturing Industry, Technological Capability, Diffusion of Innovations, Organizational Learning, Argentina

Ethics and Design in the Brazilian Context

Often driven by practical and immediate requirements, more and more people are incorporating technology into a variety of aspects of their lives, often without reflecting on the consequences of using them. On the other hand, studies on interactive system development that lead to behavioral change have been gaining ground on the agenda of large HCI conferences. This movement brings to the forefront the fundamental issues of ethics in design and technology use. A designer’s intentions, when directing certain actions or behaviors, are not always explicit or desired by the stakeholders affected by the use of the technology. Systems that induce an undesired purchase, or even those that use conditioning strategies to cause a behavioral change are examples of such intentions. The challenge proposed is therefore about the relationship between design and personal freedom in a way that these technology users do not become victims, either passively or submissively, of the effects of its use. This advance allows for the redefinition of the relationship between man and technology, and the application of new forms of designing and developing interactive systems that take into account the ethical aspects of this relationship

Wheat Industry: Which Factors Influence Innovation?

A change in the profile of food consumption is occurring because of the new context of demographic growth, the increase of income in developing economies, and urbanization. In Brazil, consumption patterns have trended from fresh to processed food and internal and external growth in demand has led to opportunities that require new and higher levels of technological innovation and associated managerial skill. The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of innovation on a key Brazilian food industry: wheat product markets. Results showed that while most firms did not innovate in the past year, new investments in R&D were important for innovation to occur compared to other factors such as the size of the company, the integration in supply chain, and the age of the company. These results demonstrate that innovation is not a random or unpredictable process, but a complex and diverse process that may be specific to each industry