Designing Policies for Local Production Systems: A Methodology Based on Evidence from Brazil

Using a previously developed methodology for identifying, classifying and characterizing local production systems (LPS) in Brazil, and evidence produced by a number of case studies, the paper suggests that policies aimed at LPS (or industrial clusters) should be tailored according to a typology of clusters. This typology must take into account the cluster importance for local or regional development, its share in the respective industry, and its characteristics in terms of production structure, trading schemes, institutional infrastructure, governance structures, and social contexts. The paper starts by reviewing, from the point of view of policy-making, the theories that support industrial cluster analyses, namely those that explain clusters as: outcomes of plain agglomeration economies and increasing returns; the result of spatial dynamic processes; knowledge systems emerging from the geography of innovation and agglomeration; governance structures, and as evolving complex systems. Next, the results from an application of the methodology to Brazilian data and information and from a number of case studies are summarized. Finally, the paper suggests policy guidelines with some measures of general application, aimed at problems observed in all LPS, and some specific measures differentiated according to a typology of local production systems that resulted from the application of the methodology.Manufacturing Industry, Cluster, Local Production System, Industrial Policy

DESIGNING POLICIES FOR LOCAL PRODUCTION SYSTEMS: A METHODOLOGY BASED ON EVIDENCE FROM BRAZIL

Using a previously developed methodology for identifying, classifying and characterizing local production systems (LPS) in Brazil, and evidence produced by a number of case studies, the paper suggests that policies aimed at LPS (or industrial clusters) should be tailored according to a typology of clusters. This typology must take into account the cluster importance for local or regional development, its share in the respective industry, and its characteristics in terms of production structure, trading schemes, institutional infrastructure, governance structures, and social contexts. The paper starts by reviewing, from the point of view of policy-making, the theories that support industrial cluster analyses, namely those that explain clusters as: outcomes of plain agglomeration economies and increasing returns; the result of spatial dynamic processes; knowledge systems emerging from the geography of innovation and agglomeration; governance structures, and as evolving complex systems. Next, the results from an application of the methodology to Brazilian data and information and from a number of case studies are summarized. Finally, the paper suggests policy guidelines with some measures of general application, aimed at problems observed in all LPS, and some specific measures differentiated according to a typology of local production systems that resulted from the application of the methodology.

Instituições e políticas industriais e tecnológicas: reflexões a partir da experiência brasileira

Tomando por base as instituições e as políticas industriais e tecnológicas brasileiras, e tendo como referência algumas experiências internacionais bem-sucedidas, este artigo investiga as razões pelas quais, mesmo quando bem formuladas, as políticas industriais e tecnológicas enfrentam problemas de implementação em países que buscam se emparelhar, em termos industriais e tecnológicos, às economias líderes. Os resultados mostram que grande parte dos problemas decorre do "envelhecimento" das instituições, aprisionadas por práticas antigas de fazer políticas, e do seu enfraquecimento - político e financeiro - comparativamente às instituições de política macroeconômica, sugerindo a necessidade de reforma das instituições. Essa reforma, entretanto, teria de superar obstáculos técnicos e, sobretudo, políticos.On the basis of Brazilian institutions and policies for industry and technology, and taking as reference some successful international experiences, this paper investigates the reasons why, even when they are well formulated, industrial and technology policies face serious implementation problems in countries that are trying to catch up with the leading industrial economies. The results show that most of the problems are related to the "aging" of institutions, which are locked into old practices of policy-making, and also to the weakening of their political and financial position vis-à-vis macroeconomic policy institutions. The paper suggests the need of an institutional reform, although recognizing that such reform faces difficult technical and above all political obstacles

Knowledge, Innovation and Agglomeration - regionalized multiple indicators and evidence from Brazil

This paper develops multiple indicators to map the geographical distribution of knowledge and scientific and technological capabilities as proxies of the geographical distribution of Science, Technology & Innovation activities, and applies such indicators to data and information from the state of São Paulo, Brazil. The overall view of the geographical distribution of S,T&I activities in the state is complemented by the analysis of the same activities in the perspective of a local production and innovation system: the case of information and communication technologies in the micro-region of Campinas. The results show a pattern for the regional distributions of S,T&I activities along the main highways of the state, around metropolitan areas such as São Paulo and Campinas, and in regions where educational, science and technology, and R&D institutions are strongly concentrated. Firms tend to agglomerate in these areas and regions, forming local production and innovation systems. The paper produces evidence on the adherence of the geographical distribution of those systems to the geographical distribution of S,T&I activities as shown by the indicators. This confirms the empirical findings of the literature about the relationship between geography and innovation.

Local production and innovation systems in the state of São Paulo, Brazil

This paper applies a specific methodology to geographically locate and delimit local production and innovation systems in the state of São Paulo. A first task, and a bulk part of the paper, is the elaboration of a number of quantitative indicators for the geographic concentration of manufacturing industries and for the location of industries at regional and local levels in that state. The elaboration of indices and other indicators for measuring regional location and specialization of economic activities is an old practice and has been an important object of study in regional economics since the seminal contributions by the pioneers of Regional Science. However, the statistical work developed in this paper is based on two most important recent contributions by P. Krugman (in Geography and Trade, 1991) and D. B. Audretsch & M. Feldman (in R&D spillovers and the geography of innovation and production, The American Economic Review, 86 (3), 1996). These authors calculated locational Gini coefficients for branches of U. S. manufacturing industry (Krugman) and for the geographic concentration of innovative activities and the location of U. S. manufacturing industries (Audretsch & Feldman). This paper applies the same methodology to calculate locational Gini coefficients for manufacturing industries in the state of São Paulo, the most advanced state in Brazilian industrialization. The Gini coefficients were calculated from data in RAIS - Relação Anual de Informações Sociais, elaborated by the Brazilian Ministry of Labor. This database provides detailed information on employment and number of plants by branches of manufacturing industries at micro-region and municipality levels. On the basis of the locational Gini coefficients the paper assesses which manufacturing industries are mostly spatially concentrated. Once these industries are identified, the paper proceeds by adding other indicators such as locational quotients, share of the local industry in the total manufacturing employment in the state, number of jobs and number of plants in the local industry. Combined, the Gini coefficients and the other indicators allow to identify, locate, and geographically delimit local production and innovation systems. Additionally, they make it possible to assess to what extent the local system is integrated. These findings are essential for guiding field research and, afterwards, for designing policies oriented to local production and innovation systems.

Uma nota sobre "origens e consequências da substituição de importações no Brasil", de Albert Fishlow

Os comentários de Annibal V. Villela e Werner Baer sobre 0 artigo do Professor Fishlow são suficientemente compreensivos. Isso permite que se possa dispensar, nesta nota, uma apreciação global do trabalho. O objetivo é, pois, unicamente acrescentar alguns elementos à discussão de pontos específicos

A changing role for universities in the periphery

An international research on interactions between universities and firms is an opportunity to investigate this subject beyond the developed countries. This project involves 12 countries from three continents: Africa (South Africa, Nigeria and Uganda), Asia (South Korea, China, India, Thailand and Malaysia) and Latin America (Mexico, Costa Rica, Argentina and Brazil). This paper introduces a theoretical framework to deal with this broad set of countries, their different levels of NSI formation and their different levels of development. This framework may help public policies to understand the role of universities for a country search for an “active insertion in the international division of labor”.interactions between firms and universities, National Innovation Systems, catch up processes.

Empresas transnacionais e internacionalização da P&D: elementos de organização industrial da economia da inovação

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