Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Figueiredo, Paulo N.
Author-Workplace-Name: Brazilian School of Public and Business Administration
Author-Name: Vedovello, Conceição
Author-Workplace-Name: Technological Research Institute of the State of Sao Paulo
Title:  Firms’ Creative Capabilities, the Supporting Innovation System and Globalization 
	in Southern Latin America: A Bleak Technological Outlook or a Myopic Standpoint? 	
 	Evidence from a Developing Region in Brazil
Abstract: This paper examines empirical evidence of the technological capabilities of firms
	 in the industrial pole of Manaus, in a developing area of northern Brazil. It also
	 investigates the links these firms have with supporting organizations of the innovation
	 system such as universities, research institutes or business incubators. Firms’
	 capabilities are classified by type and level of development, and we also identify
	 the nature of the links between them and the supporting organizations. The paper draws
	 on a sample of 75 organizations from Manaus: 46 firms (in two sectors: electro-electronics
	 and motorcycle and bicycle industries, and their major suppliers) and 29 research-oriented
	 support organizations. The evidence was collected through extensive fieldwork at both
	 the industry- and firm-level as well as from first-hand accounts. From the study we find
	 that all the sampled firms have progressed beyond basic operational capabilities. At the
	 time of the fieldwork, several firms possessed a high level of innovative capabilities
	 in diverse technological functions. Many of these firms have actively established a variety
	 of informal, human resource-based and even research-based links with innovation supporting
	 organizations. These findings oppose prevailing generalizations and assumptions that, as a
	 consequence of globalization and outward-looking industrialization regimes, firms in
	 southern Latin American economies lack technological capabilities. Furthermore our evidence
	 does not support the view that there is a prevailing weakness in the innovation system in
	 this region. Although this study does not explicitly examine technological development over
	 time, we believe it offers an alternative (and more optimistic) view of the industrial
	 reality in this developing area of Brazil. This view, which differs from existing
	 conventional (and myopic) standpoints, could potentially support the design of more realistic
	 industrial strategies.
Keywords: Firm-level capabilities, technological capabilities, innovation systems, globalization, Latin America.  
Series: Discussion Paper
Creation-Date: 2005
Number: 04
File-URL: http://www.intech.unu.edu/publications/discussion-papers/2005-4.pdf
File-Format: application/pdf
File-Size: 312 Kb
Handle: RePEc:unm:unuint:200504