This research aims to identify the level of concentration of the volume granted (the so-called permit) by grantee sectors in the State of Ceará, Brazil, as well as to simulate both the impact of the permit fees, and to conjecture about the permit concentration trend due to fee increase. The Gini index is calculated for all users with granted volume; next, fees are applied to the volume granted, observing the impact of charging to users; and lastly, the migration of irrigation users are conjectured based on the volume granted. The results indicate high Gini index for the supply, industry and irrigation; high impact on irrigation charge and low impacts on supply and industry; and concentration trend in irrigation due to elevated charges when the permit fee is applied. The authors conclude that the joint charging (consumption and permit) is relevant, as long as an effort is made by the basin committee to increase acceptance of a substantial fee increase.

Economic instruments, such as water charges, have been used to promote water conservation and raise funds for basin management. However, there is a need to improve the water collection model in Brazil. The aims of this study were to analyze the evolution of raw water charges in the State of Ceará and verify the effect of drought on the costs and water collection from 2011 to 2019 to answer two questions: does the water collection fulfill its function of financing the water resources system? Is the pricing model flexible to absorb the effects of climate variability? We conducted a content analysis to determine the presence of certain words in selected documents, and then analyzed the costs of system operation. The results show that the payment capacity is lower than the tariff applied to water. The Status Index is negatively correlated with the Administration (ADM) and Operation and Maintenance (O&M) costs. The generated revenue is mainly used to cover the management costs (ADM and O&M); however, it is insufficient to finance the implementation of measures, programs, and projects to improve the water management in respective basins. Thus, a floating tariff should be established in which the water scarcity and effects of climate variability are incorporated.

Public funding for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) innovation projects in collaboration with Scientific and Technological Institutions is still incipient in less developed Global South regions. Within the context mentioned above, our objective is to show a network analysis of Industry-University-Research Institute (IUR) interactions promoted by a government program, identifying its structure and dynamics and the influences played by these organisational actors. The results point out that the program presents effectiveness in establishing the IUR interaction network. Moreover, the network presents a scale-free structure, strong clustering and short distances between the actors. Universities lead as the most central actors, followed by research institutes. Despite the growth of the network with the significant entry of new SMEs, there is no evidence that this evolution contributes to improving its network metrics. The conclusions suggest that the network structure and dynamics may imply greater redundancy in the innovation process while allowing greater speed in the flow of knowledge and wider dissemination of knowledge among actors. The hubs (four central universities) in the network suggests an influence as generators and disseminators of knowledge and facilitators of interaction, but they can also limit the dynamics of the search for innovation in the network.