André Tosi Furtado

Technological Innovation in Brazilian Industry: An Assessment Based on the São Paulo Innovation Survey

Abstract This article presents results of the technological innovation section of the PAEP survey, which is a large sample survey of firms in the most industrialized Brazilian federate State. The first PAEP collected data in 1997, referring to 1996, in more than 10,000 industrial firms. Innovation questions followed the OECD guidelines. The article starts with a methodological summary. It shows that the rate of innovation output in Sao Paulo—that is the share of innovative firms—revealed a considerably extensive adoption of technologically new or improved products and/or processes in the period 1994/1996. The innovative performance of Sao Paulo industrial firms is examined for distinct firm groups, taking into account firm size, the origin of capital ownership (national vs. transnational firms) and industrial sector. The article reveals that the distance between Sao Paulo industrial firms and their counterpart in industrialized countries is even more substantial in terms of R&D activities. The findings about the sources of information for innovation and their motivation for innovation reinforce the features of the pattern of innovation presented in the article, that is, there has been quite substantial innovation but little knowledge in the innovation process of the industry of Sao Paulo.

Padrões de intensidade tecnológica da indústria brasileira: um estudo comparativo com os países centrais

The present work aims to demonstrate that the Brazilian industry display a level of technology effort that differ from those found in developed countries. In order to define these levels we have adopted indicators of technology intensity, measured as R&D expenditure by value added, of R&D expenditure structure and of Human Resources by sector of the industry. Due to these differences, the present work proposes a classification of sectors based on technological intensity for the Brazilian case, which differs from the classification defined by OECD.

The French system of innovation in the oil industry some lessons about the role of public policies and sectoral patterns of technological change in innovation networking

Abstract The central issue in this paper is to show the importance of public policies and sectoral patterns of technological change for institutional interaction in National Systems of Innovation (NSI), from the illustrative case study of French oil industry. This case is a relevant example of the French style of public policy, more well known as Colbertism. In the oil industry, Colbertism has demonstrated a greater ability to overcome some of its main challenges related to a weaker diffusion propensity and to a excessive concentration of R&D funds in some strategic sectors. The study of this industry demonstrates that sectoral patterns of technological change are very important to explain institutional interaction. Differences in the degree of appropriability between up and downstream of the oil industry had a great influence in this interaction and in public policies effectiveness. However, the technological diffusion success was not only due to some favorable technological factor but also to the nature of decision making, which was the outcome of a cooperative process.

Forecasting of petroleum consumption in Brazil using the intensity of energy technique

Abstract The purpose of this paper is to forecast petroleum consumption in Brazil for the year 2000 based upon logistic models, learning models, and translog models using the technique of intensity of energy use. The models employ a time series of 30 years for projection. An investigation of the evolution of petroleum consumption profile was made based upon three characteristic effects: structural, content and scale effects. Evaluation of forecasting models presented good results, with the translog model showing the best performance in terms of accuracy. The learning and translog models indicated that GDP is the main determinant for petroleum consumption evolution in the future, defining a range of 64 000 and 109 000 thousand of tonnes of oil equivalent on two defined GDP growth scenarios.

The Catch-Up Strategy of Petrobras through Cooperative R&D

This article seeks to reflect on the possibilities of cooperative R&D to constitute an opportunity for companies in developing countries to take part in the innovation concerning technological frontier. In order to show this thesis can be true, this article is based on the case study of Petrobrás, the Brazilian state-owned oil company, which has employed the resource of cooperative R&D to gain access to the new subsea boosting technology and to acquire a place in the vanguard of such technology. However, the catch-up occurs only when firms in developing countries actively take part in the innovation process and accomplish an efficient process of technological learning, which is reflected on the evolution of interactions with external partners. The experience of Petrobrás is analyzed emphasizing the technological learning process through the transformation in its agreements with external partners. We present three cases of subsea boosting technologies developed by Petrobrás together with a majority of foreign producers or institutes. The analysis of these experiences allows us to show that the learning process and the mastery of in-house processes were accompanied by a significant evolution in the agreements with external sources. Petrobrás passes on from the position of cosponsor to that of articulator of the innovation process in technological cooperation agreements. The article proposes an evolutionary sequence to analyze the companys learning process. The evolutionary trajectories are different in each case, but in all of them it was possible to prove the increasing commitment of Petrobrás to the innovation effort.

Public procurement for innovation in developing countries: the case of Petrobras

This book focuses on Public Procurement for Innovation. Public Procurement for Innovation is a specific demand-side innovation policy instrument. It occurs when a public organization places an order for a new or improved product to fulfill certain needs that cannot be met at the moment of the order. The book provides evidence of the potential benefits to public and private actors from the selective use of this policy instrument and illustrates the requirements and constraints for its operationalization. The book intends to significantly improve the understanding of key determinants of effective public procurement aiming to promote innovative capabilities in the supplying sectors and beyond. It provides both case studies and conceptual contributions that help extend the frontier of our understanding in areas where there are still significant gaps.

Government Procurement Policy in Developing Countries: The Case of Petrobras

The aim of this article is to discuss whether public procurement policy can promote innovation by firms located in developing countries. The literature on technological learning is used to create a typology for assessing the impact of public procurement in developing countries from the standpoint of innovation. Petrobras, a Brazilian state-owned enterprise, was chosen as a case study. Petrobras is a global leader in the field of deepwater oil production technology and so offers an interesting opportunity to investigate whether government procurement in developing countries is used to promote the capability of domestic firms to develop innovations. The article presents the findings of a field survey on P-51, a platform that was ordered by the Brazilian state-owned enterprise and began producing in 2009. The case study is based on information collected from interviews with managers of Petrobras, EPC contractors and some of the firms subcontracted to work on P-51.

Evaluation of the results and impacts of a social-oriented technology program in Brazil: the case of Prosab (a sanitation research program)

This paper presents and discuss the main results and impacts of Prosab (a sanitation research program) sponsored by Finep (Brazilian Federal Agency of Innovation). Prosab was mainly carried out by universities and its purpose was to fulfill technological demands related to the Brazilian sanitation services. This paper deals with two important factors: evaluating a technological program with a social purpose and creating a methodology that could capture the overwhelming aspects of the programs outcomes. The evaluation methodology is separated into two fronts: results evaluation, which tries to seize all the intermediate outputs of the program; and impact evaluation, which concerns the general outcomes of the program for Brazilian society. Results evaluation focused on those who carried out the research project, using them as reference units for analyses, while the focus of impact evaluation was on the whole set of actors related to the sanitation industry, including the research community, sanitation companies, public actors at local and federal level. The unit of analysis was the program itself. Copyright , Beech Tree Publishing.

UMA ANÁLISE DA NOVA POLÍTICA DE COMPRAS DA PETROBRAS PARA SEUS EMPREENDIMENTOS OFFSHORE

Este artigo trata da politica de compras da Petrobras para seus empreendimentos offshore no periodo recente, mais especificamente a partir do governo Lula, e esta vinculado a dissertacao de mestrado do autor. O governo atual criou alguns mecanismos para estimular a reaproximacao da Petrobras com a industria para-petroleira local, a qual no decorrer de quase uma decada de vigencia do modelo neoliberal, viu-se orfa do modelo de aquisicao local de grande maioria dos materiais e equipamentos necessarios a atividade da operadora nacional, ou seja, do modelo substitutivo de importacoes. A criacao do PROMINP e um exemplo claro do objetivo do governo em modificar essa situacao. Nosso objetivo neste trabalho e analisar ate que ponto a nova politica de compras da Petrobras para suas atividades de exploracao e producao consegue se desvencilhar do tradicional modelo de substituicao de importacoes, de modo a fomentar a capacitacao e aprendizagem tecnologica dos fornecedores locais. Para tanto e feita num segundo item uma revisao bibliografica apoiada na literatura existente acerca do panorama historico da politica de compras da Petrobras, destacando a questao tecnologica em suas compras. Num terceiro item apresenta-se a analise do PROMINP. Tal analise se apoia em documentos e entrevistas realizadas junto a participantes deste Programa. Finalmente, no quarto item, busca-se analisar, a partir dos elementos apresentados nos dois itens anteriores, se o atual modelo de compras da Petrobras efetivamente cria uma nova oportunidade de aprendizagem e capacitacao tecnologica a industria para-petroleira local.

Patterns of Technological Intensity in the Brazilian Industry: A Comparative Study with Developed Countries

Summary The present work aims to demonstrate that Brazilian industries display levels of efforts in technology that differ from those encountered in developed countries. In order to define these levels we have adopted indicators of technological intensity (expenditure in R&D/added value), of the structure of spending in R&D and of the human resources allocated to each industry. We have compared these indicators to those of other developed countries where similar statistics are available. The data regarding expenditure and human resources in Brazil, when compared to that of developed countries, has displayed considerable structural differences in the sectoral levels of technology intensity. These differences have been attributed to the fact that Brazil is a relatively closed market economy, with a low level of technological specialization in the high or medium-high technology industries, and except in the case of the aeronautics industry, that relies on the external flow of technology. To explain the differentiated levels that Brazil presents among its different industries, we have made use of four key factors: technology tacitness; supply’s local content; the presence of foreign firms; and, the government policies adopted. Due to these differences, the present study proposes a classification of industries based on R&D intensity which, when applied to Brazil’s specific case, differs from classification defined by OECD (the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development).