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This article investigates the effect of financial and non-financial barriers on innovativeness. Using microdata from Brazil, it provides a rare detailed empirical investigation of this type in developing countries. The analysis is based on a novel conceptual framework of the moderating role of barriers to innovation. Research and development expenditure and informal methods of intellectual property protection are the innovation determinants least affected by obstacles to innovation. This is in sharp contrast to company size, whose effect appeared quite sensitive to barriers of all kinds. Disembodied and embodied knowledge outsourcing interact differently with different constraints: while the former appeared helpful in working around different types of barriers in low-tech sectors, the latter was more useful in addressing financial constraints in high-tech sectors. Finally, cooperation with other firms was negatively affected by obstacles when firms seek more radical innovations, whereas cooperation with research and education organizations proved attractive for companies facing organizational constraints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contributes to the growing literature on innovation networks exploring two understudied topics: the role of gatekeepers in innovation networks and the distinctive character of their linkages especially relating to their ability to overcome cognitive, institutional and geographical distances among network participants in the context of a developing country economy. We address two questions: (1) Which organizations play the regional gatekeeper role in innovation networks? (2) How are gatekeeper linkages affected by different kinds of proximity (geographical, institutional, cognitive and social)? The empirical analysis employs co-patenting data from Brazilian organizations. Universities and public research organizations are shown to be more likely to perform the regional gatekeeper role. Gatekeepers are able to overcome geographic and institutional distance. They also balance cognitive distance with other organizations when geographical or institutional proximities are present. Given their critical role in innovation networks, universities and other public research organizations deserve special attention in policies designed to foster technological upgrading and regional development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on regional entrepreneurial ecosystems in the largest emerging economy in the world. We use a two-stage structural model distinguishing between two sets of factors, those that have direct impact on entrepreneurial activities and those that have indirect impact. Based on an empirical analysis of 263 Chinese prefecture-level municipalities from 2008 to 2015, we find that human capital, knowledge creation, and access to finance are the main factors that drive local entrepreneurial activity. New technology-based startups are significant predictors of the regional stock of human capital and the presence of risk finance suggesting the unique role of technology-based firms in promoting sustainable growth in regional entrepreneurial ecosystems. The presence of research-intensive universities also has a strong positive impact on regional entrepreneurial ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prevalence of multiproject contact is defined by using the data set of research joint ventures registered under National Cooperative Research Act from 1985-1998, and a new theory which provides a new rationale for multiproject contact is developed.

This paper shows that where a firm temporarily withholds investing in research and development as a strategic incentive, the asymmetry between competiting firms disappears over time.

Interfirm strategic alliances are quickly becoming a key mechanism for the diffusion of technical and organizational knowledge on a global scale. Tapping into such alliances will be crucial for developing countries to gain and/or maintain access to technologies and markets. This paper provides some evidence showing that this is already happening in information technology industries. Increasingly, developing country firms are seeking out foreign collaborators in their efforts to become world players in these industries and to participate effectively in building domestic infrastructure. Industrialized country firms, particularly large multinational corporations, are eager to oblige. Key words - developing countries, economies in transition, strategic alliances, multinational corporations, information technology, technology diffusion

Recent literature has called attention to the significance of mission-oriented policies (MOPs) in setting the directions of change, market creation, and economic development. The aim of this article is to analyze and discuss the main challenges of setting MOPs in the context of developing countries. We do so by looking at the recent development of the Brazilian shipbuilding sector where an entire institutional setting was put in place to boost technological and industrial development. We investigate the policies set for the sector to create a market, stimulate the industry, and promote innovation. Results show that, while the set of policies emplaced was able to give an initial boost in the sector, coordination uncertainties and high capability-building costs precipitated the failure of the industry to catchup with international competitors. We argue that there is a fuzzy boundary between policy expectations for market creation and the actual possibilities of building an industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the association between internal barriers to innovation and the propensity of technology-based SMEs to cooperate with universities and research institutes (URIs). We examine empirically two types of internal company barriers – financial and knowledge obstacles to innovation. The data source is the latest edition of the Brazilian Innovation Survey (PINTEC). We analyse the full sample of technology-based SMEs as well as the subsamples of high-tech manufacturing companies and knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS). Financial obstacles are shown to be strongly related to the propensity of KIBS to collaborate with URIs. Knowledge obstacles are moderately related to the propensity of high-tech manufacturing SMEs to collaborate with URIs. We conclude that while URIs have other important roles in the techno-economic system, their perceived contribution to alleviating internal innovation barriers for technology-based SMEs may be less prominent than policy decision-makers in emerging economies may expect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]