An empirical analysis of technology absorption capacity of the Brazilian industry

Abstract

This article presents and discusses empirical evidence on external technology absorption facilitated by activities performed inside firms. Indicators of internal and external learning are developed and applied in statistical causality models, to distinguish possible ways in which technology can be absorbed. Industrial activity sectors at the three-digit level of the National Classification of Economic Activities (nace) are the basic reference units of the research, which uses the information generated by Brazil's Survey of Technological Innovation (pintec). The results show that in-house research and development (r&d) is the main source of technology absorption, followed by the knowledge generated from the "learning by doing" and "training practices".

Sistema Regional de Inovação Catarinense: determinantes de seu desempenho

“…Como já destacado em Cohen e Levinthal (1990), a atividade de P&D possui um duplo caráter de gerar (i) inovações e (ii) absorver conhecimentos gerados fora da empresa. De fato, as atividades de P&D costumam estar ligadas às inovações de maior impacto, mas são também elemento diferenciador das empresas que mantêm competência tecnológica para reconhecer conhecimentos úteis à competitividade (JENSEN et al, 2007;GIGLIO, 2013), em áreas sensíveis do atual paradigma tecnoprodutivo, tais como as engenharias, medicina e ciências naturais.…”

Capacidade De Absorção E Canais De Interação Universidade-Empresa: Uma Análise Empírica Para Empresas No Rio Grande Do Sul

“…Alguns estudos utilizam o P&D como proxy (COHEN; LEVINTHAL, 1989;MANGEMATIN;NESTA, 1999), não incluindo suas várias dimensões e suas implicações para os diferentes resultados da empresa (CAMISÓN;FORÉS, 2010). No Brasil, alguns trabalhos que avaliaram a CA da firma utilizaram proxies para esta, como o tipo de fonte de informação buscada (BITTENCOURT; GIGLIO, 2013;NEGRI, 2006). O presente estudo busca contribuir para essa discussão de mensuração da CA ao utilizar um instrumento de pesquisa de coleta de dados primários que considera os avanços apresentados pelos autores mencionados acima.…”

Organizational determinants and idiosyncrasies of firms' absorptive capacity in a developing country context: preliminary results

“…However, R&D is not the unique. Training efforts improves the "relational empowerment" between workers, favoring the absorption of knowledge (EBERS; MAURER, 2014), especially from the market (BITTENCOURT; GIGLIO, 2013;MUROVEC;PRODAN, 2009). Engineering efforts also influence the absorption of external technologies in the first steps of catching up process (KIM, 1999).…”

“…The previous section focused in studies from developed countriesas the ones from European context (JANSEN; VAN DEN BOSCH; VOLBERDA, 2005; SCHMIDT, 2005)or from developing countries without a specific discussion about idiosyncrasies of AC in this context, as the Brazilian studies of De Negri (2006) and Bittencourt and Giglio (2013). The main question here is: If firm develops their capabilities embedded in an Innovation System, what are the idiosyncrasies of the AC of firms from developing countries, especially Latin-America?…”

“…However, many of the articles about AC and its determinants focus on developed country contextsuch as European context (JANSEN;VOLBERDA, 2005;SCHMIDT, 2005)or did not have a sufficient discussion about idiosyncrasies of AC in the developing country context, as Brazilian studies of De Negri (2006) and Bittencourt and Giglio (2013).Here, we contribute to the literature analyzing determinants and idiosyncrasies of absorptive capacity (AC) of firms from developing countries, especially in Latin America. To do this, the paper is divided in more four sections.…”