Brazilian Company for Industrial Research and Innovation: A New Generation of STI Policy Mechanisms for the Modernisation of the Productive Sector

Abstract

This article focuses on the Brazilian Company for Industrial Research and Innovation, (EMBRAPII), a social organisation created as an intermediary agent to encourage partnerships between research centres and companies. The main objective was to overcome the shortcomings of Brazil’s conventional STI public policies, the technological and innovation results of which were considered unsatisfactory. EMBRAPII innovates in governance and funding, regarded as an instrument capable of boosting companies’ engagement in collaborative technology and innovation projects. This article concludes by acknowledging EMBRAPII’s evident qualities with respect to the conventional STI policies, even though its achievements seems lower than expected in terms of the number of companies involved. The research findings endorse Ergas’ assumption that policies cannot be assessed in isolation. ‘The first and most fundamental is the dependence of technology policy outcomes on their economic and institutional environment.…’.