Ana Urraca Ruiz

Especialización tecnológica, captura y formación de competencias bajo integración de mercados: comparación entre Asia y América Latina

The aim of this paper is to observe the evolution of technological specialization, convergence and the process of building technological competences for two groups of countries - Asia and Latin America - between 1985-1995 and 1999-2008. Between these periods, most of the countries in these groups registered growing levels of global integration in terms of goods, services and capital markets. The main conclusions of the study are: i) there is no unique pattern of technological convergence between countries; ii) Latin-American countries specialize in technologies linked to natural resources while the Asian countries explored the electronic and telecommunication paradigms; iii) persistency is a phenomenon associated to de-specialization and is concentrated in marginal and core competences; iv) considering rapid rates of catch-up, mobility can become more relevant than persistency and can be only marginally explained by technological accumulation; v) there is no evidence that Latin-American specialization on stagnant technologies would be a constraint to its technological dynamism.

Persistência versus mudança estrutural da especialização tecnológica do Brasil

Este trabalho tem como objetivo identificar a ocorrencia e direcao da mudanca na especializacao tecnologica brasileira entre os periodos pre e pos-abertura, assim como a natureza de tais mudancas. Utilizando dados da Oficina Europeia de Patentes entre 1978 e 2005 para tres grupos de paises (lideres, asiaticos e latino-americanos), o artigo confirma um forte dinamismo da atividade inovadora do Brasil entre periodos (1978-1990 e 1991-2005) que o levou a especializar-se em campos tecnicos com oportunidades tecnologicas dinâmicas e sair de campos tecnicos que se mostraram estagnados. Sem embargo, o pais ainda nao conseguiu desenvolver competencias relevantes em importantes segmentos com elevada oportunidade tecnologica. O artigo revela, ademais: i) um realinhamento da estrutura tecnologica brasileira apos a abertura, mais proxima dos seus vizinhos latino-americanos e mais distante dos lideres e asiaticos; e ii) o efeito da acumulacao tecnologica nos paises lideres se traduz na manutencao das competencias desenvolvidas no passado (persistencia), enquanto, para os paises seguidores, a persistencia se revela como a dificuldade de entrar em campos tecnicos onde nao houve desenvolvimento de capacitacao tecnologica.

MULTINATIONAL ENTERPRISES AND THE INTERNALIZATION OF R&D: ARE THERE INTRA-FIRM R&D NETWORKS?

Using patent data, this paper attempts to add empirical evidence to the study of the R&D internationalization, understanding and to understand the types of knowledge developed abroad by MNE, associating them to firm main characteristics. The gathering of the results seems to put in doubt the existence of an intra-firm network strictu sensu. Foreign technological efforts seem to be associated with three very important features: intemationalization of productive activity, technological diversification and duplication of competencies (tliat is, nonspecialization). It seems therefore that the internationalization of R&D activities is a consequence of the globalization of production and the need to adapt production to clients in a scenario where home markets lose their relative importance.