TENDÊNCIAS RECENTES DO FINANCIAMENTO À P&D E IMPLICAÇÕES SOBRE A EDUCAÇÃO E O DESENVOLVIMENTO ECONÔMICO.

The main aim of this paper is to verify whether the world tendency to have the financial capital as the main sponsor of university research is also true in Brazil and the consequences of this move to education and to economic development. The objective is to prove, through comparing Brazilian data to international data, the level of government expenditures on basic university research and its effects on education and improvement of knowledge basis. Furthermore, the lack of incentive to the innovative process in the private sector and its effects on firm and country competitiveness are also shown. Figures point to a very low governmental expenditure on R&D as well as on university research in Brazil. The incentives for the business sector to promote innovation and expand competitiveness are also very poor and insufficient to compensate for the public sector deficiency. The conclusion is that in order to have a positive effect on education and economic development Brazil must change its industrial and technological policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]