Eduardo da Motta e Albuquerque

Cross-over, thresholds, and interactions between science and technology: lessons for less-developed countries

Abstract Presently, science is an important precondition for the economic development of less-developed countries. This paper discusses the specific roles that science has at initial stages of development, pointing to its contributions for the countries’ absorptive capability. Furthermore, this paper specifies the role of science for initiating a positive interaction with technological development, since initial stages of development and during catching up processes. For less-developed countries, neither the linear model of technology nor an “inverted linear model” would take place: a more interactive approach is necessary for development. Using statistics of patents (USPTO) and scientific papers (ISI) for 120 countries (1974, 1982, 1990, and 1998), this paper analyses some evidences on thresholds levels of scientific production to originate an interactive relationship between science and technology. These data also document that the value of this threshold seems to double from one period to another. Although this paper presents tentative results, some policy implications are discussed: scientific institutional building must be seen as a component of modern industrial policies.

University—industry interactions in an immature system of innovation: Evidence from Minas Gerais, Brazil

This paper evaluates interactions between firms and universities in Minas Gerais, one of the Brazilian states. The heterogeneity in Minas Gerais replicates the heterogeneity that exists in Brazil as a whole. This paper adapts the pioneering Yale and Carnegie Mellon surveys (USA) to an immature national system of innovation. We found that, in immature systems of innovation, beyond their traditional functions, universities perform a dual role in their interactions with firms: they substitute for and complement the research and development done by the firms themselves. In addition, contrary to conventional wisdom, even in the so-called low-tech and medium-tech sectors, universities matter. Copyright , Beech Tree Publishing.

Domestic patents and developing countries: arguments for their study and data from Brazil (1980–1995)

Abstract This paper presents data from Brazilian Patent Office (Instituto Nacional de Propriedade Industrial, INPI) and compares them with data from the United States Patent Office (USPTO). Developing countries have technological activities that are important locally but not significant at international level (imitation, local learning, adaptation of foreign innovations). These activities might be patentable only at national level. Therefore, the study of domestic patents of developing countries provides a broader picture than USPTO patents. This paper compares 8309 INPI patents with 475 USPTO patents (between 1980 and 1995). Domestic patent data show peculiarities in the Brazilian case, possibly shared with other countries in similar technological level: (a) high share of individual patents; (b) foreign-owned firms with important activities; (c) low firm involvement in RD (b) according to firm size, there is a U-shaped distribution of patents; (c) evidences of multi-technology large firms; (d) a relatively small share of firms have more than one patent in the whole period. The contrast between USPTO and national patenting statistics shows different rankings according to ownership structure, leading firms, industrial sectors, and international patent classification. These differences highlight sources of international competitiveness and point to weaknesses in Brazilian innovative activities. This paper concludes evaluating the contributions (and weaknesses) of this database for the evaluation of the Brazilian National System of Innovation.

The underestimated role of universities for the Brazilian system of innovation

Conventional wisdom usually underestimates the important role of public research institutes and universities in successful cases of Brazilian economy. History of science and technology institutions shows a long-term process of formation of these institutions and their interactions with industrial firms, agricultural producers or society. This paper investigates historical roots of successful cases of Brazil. First, we present the late onset of National Innovation System (NSI) institutions and waves of institutional formation in Brazil. Second, we describe the history of three selected successful cases, which spans from a low-tech sector (agriculture), a medium-tech sector (steel and special metal alloys), to a high-tech sector (aircraft). These findings present new challenges for present-day developmental policies.

Matrices of science and technology interactions and patterns of structured growth: implications for development

Scientific and other non-patent references (NPRs) in patents are important tools to analyze interactions between science and technology. This paper organizes a database with 514,894 USPTO patents granted globally in 1974, 1982, 1990, 1998 and 2006. There are 165,762 patents with at least one reference to science and engineering (S&E) literature, from a total of 1,375,503 references. Through a lexical analysis, 71.1% of this S&E literature is classified by S&E fields. These data serve as the basis for the elaboration of global and national 3-dimensional matrices (technological domains, S&E fields and number of references). Three indicators are proposed to analyze these matrices, allowing us to identify patterns of structured growth that differentiate developed and non-developed countries. This differentiation informs suggestions for public policies for development, emphasizing the need for an articulation between the industrial and technological dimension and scientific side. The intertwinement of these two dimensions is a key component of developmental policies for the twenty-first century.

Pesquisa e inovação em saúde: uma discussão a partir da literatura sobre economia da tecnologia

O artigo avalia as caracteristicas principais dos sistemas de inovacao do setor saude de paises avancados como uma introducao para a discussao dos desafios e potencialidades do caso brasileiro. A importância estrategica da inovacao em saude e enfatizada, indicando tanto as interacoes entre a pesquisa cientifica e as inovacoes no setor como as multiplas influencias entre a construcao de um efetivo sistema de inovacao no setor saude e a economia. No caso brasileiro, em que o atraso tecnologico coexiste com o atraso social, a superacao de ambos passa pelo fortalecimento das instituicoes do sistema de inovacao do setor saude.

Science in the developing world: running twice as fast?

Physicists are increasingly interested in studying the behavior of financial markets; likewise, researchers have applied statistical physics tools to study economic development in - and interactions among - various countries. We recently introduced a model that creates an artificial world economy of countries, each of which has a population with scientific and technological capabilities. The models main goal is to probe the underlying mechanisms responsible for the interactions among science, technology, and development. So far, it has shown a strong correlation between economic development and scientific and technological production.

Diferenciação intersetorial na interação entre empresas e universidades no Brasil

This article presents results based on special tabulations prepared by IBGE, using data from PINTEC in order to focus on the interaction between firms and universities in the Brazilian industry. The basic hypothesis states that the relevance of universities as a source of information to the firms’ innovation activities is greater when firms are engaged in R&D activities (both internal and external). The hypothesis is not rejected neither for the general industry nor for inter-sectorial analysis.

A methodology for unveiling global innovation networks: patent citations as clues to cross border knowledge flows

This paper presents a new methodology to describe global innovations networks. Using 167,315 USPTO patents granted in 2009 and the papers they cited, this methodology shows “scientific footprints of technology” that cross national boundaries, and how multinational enterprises interact globally with universities and other firms. The data and the map of these flows provide insights to support a tentative taxonomy of global innovation networks.

Global interactions between firms and universities

This paper investigates interactions between firms and universities in a global context. The point of departure is a review of the ever-evolving literature on innovation. Three major strands of the literature can be identified: interactions between firms and universities, transnational corporations and their global reach, and more recently, global innovation networks (GINs). These strands have intersections that provide a starting point for a theoretical framework presented in order to assist the analysis of the role of universities in innovation networks, and the ways in which emerging countries are inserted into global hierarchies. Underlying the framework is the notion that the nature of national innovation systems shapes the national role in existing innovation networks. Therefore, immature national innovation systems will be associated with immature or incomplete GINs.