1Resumen: Este artículo pretende aportar a la literatura que analiza los efectos de las políticas públicas sobre la innovación a nivel de firmas, a partir del caso de una pequeña economía en desarrollo, Uruguay. Analiza la relación entre apoyo público y probabilidad de innovar para el mercado, e introduce un rezago entre el apoyo otorgado y la innovación realizada, de manera de valorar rezago en el impacto. El análisis econométrico utiliza Probit binomiales con corrección de Heckman, para corregir sesgos de selección. Se concluye que los apoyos públicos importan a los efectos de innovar para el mercado, ya sea porque estimulan la innovación o porque la facilitan en empresas que ya innovan. Asimismo, las actividades de innovación de empresas asociadas a apoyos públicos, en Uruguay, no parecen requerir de largo tiempo de maduración. Finalmente, se sugiere profundizar el estudio de la relación entre internacionalización de las empresas y probabilidad de innovar.Palabras claves: innovación; subsidios; evaluación de política.Abstract: Title: Public support and innovation at the firm level. This article intends to contribute to the analyses of the effects of public policies on innovation at the firm level, based on the case of a small developing economy (Uruguay). It studies the relation between public support and the probability of innovating at the market level, introducing a lag between support and innovation. The econometric analysis uses binomial Probit models with Heckman sampling bias correction. The article concludes that public support matters for innovation at the market level, whether by stimulating innovation or by facilitating it in already innovative firms. Moreover, the innovation activities of Uruguayan firms receiving public support do not seem to require a long time to develop. Finally, it is suggested that the relation between firm internationalization and the probability of innovating be further studied.Keywords: innovation; subsidies; policy evaluation.(1) Departamento de Economía, Universidad Católica del Uruguay, Montevideo, Uruguay. *Autor de correspondencia: ajung@ucu.edu.uy IntroducciónEl desarrollo económico se asocia actualmente a procesos de diversificación productiva que, a través de la generación de capacidades por parte de los agentes económicos, conducen a economías más complejas y con mayor potencial de crecimiento (Hausmann & Klinger, 2006;Hausmann & Rodrik, 2003; Imbs & Warcziarg, 2003).Para diversificar la matriz productiva y transformar las economías, se requiere que las empresas innoven. En países en desarrollo, las innovaciones que tienen estos efectos no deben ser necesariamente algo nuevo para el mundo. Aunque su alcance sea el mercado (Hausmann & Rodrik, 2003), pueden tener un impacto significativo, asociado con el desempeño a nivel de firma y con los aumentos en la productividad total de los factores a nivel nacional (Navarro et al., 2016; Maloney y Perry, 2005). Este hecho es particularmente relevante para los países de América Latina, donde las deficiencias en la capacid...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify different outcomes in the relation innovation–exports for a firm located in a developing country, depending upon the destination market of its exports (i.e. a developed or a developing economy). Design/methodology/approach The specification strategy is a bivariate probit regression model applied to 640 Uruguayan manufacturing firms. Two simultaneous equations are used to estimate the probability of being an exporting or innovating firm. For both equations, the firm’s innovative activity and export status in the past are introduced as explanatory variables to solve endogeneity issues. Findings When firms located in a developing economy export to another developing country, the authors find that innovation precedes exports, in line with what they would expect according to theory. When the export market is a developed economy, firms are not able to cope with both innovation and export strategies simultaneously, whether innovating to access export markets or transforming knowledge from exports into innovation. Research limitations/implications Causality could not be found and endogeneity problems were not solved. The data are limited to a sample of Uruguayan manufacturing firms during six years between 2010 and 2015, and authors do not know when did the firms began to export either to a developed or a developing economy. Furthermore, the database indicates if a developed economy is between the three main export markets of the firm or not, but authors do not know what kind of products (i.e. their technological level) are exported by the firm to that destination. Originality/value Although the link between innovation and exports is an important topic for firms and policymakers, the main bulk of empirical studies has ignored the role of destination markets. This study attempts to fill this gap contributing to a better understanding of the differences in the relation between innovation and exports (i.e. its sequence), when the destination market is a developed or a developing economy.