A functions approach to innovation system building in the South: the pre-Proálcool evolution of the sugarcane and biofuel sector in Brazil

Abstract

This paper applies a technological innovation system (TIS) approach to study how and under which circumstances the sugarcane and biofuel innovation system (SUBIS) emerged and grew in Brazil in the period 1900–1973. The paper advances our understanding of innovation system (IS) building in the South in three ways. First, it illustrates how sectoral IS formation can be understood by using the TIS framework. Second, it highlights key mechanisms in the formation of TIS. Third, it illustrates that the TIS approach must further emphasize the demand for new knowledge in order to be adapted to the South. In addition, the paper demonstrates how many decades of IS building was central to the subsequent success of the Brazilian National Alcohol Program.