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Trends and Challenges in Science and Higher Education pp 177–195Cite as

Promoting Research Careers in the Business Sector: Assessing Public Policy Instruments in Brazil and Chile

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Part of the book series: Knowledge Studies in Higher Education ((KSHE,volume 3))

Abstract

One of the critical factors for innovation in Latin America is the shortage of human capital in the firms with technical capacity to adapt, create and transform knowledge into new business opportunities. To solve this issue, in recent years, several countries in the region introduced programs to stimulate the placement of researchers into the firms, within their respective science, technology and innovation (ST&I) policies. This paper stresses such initiatives, focusing on the programs established by Brazil and Chile, countries that presented more systematic efforts in this area. Besides the description of the design and operation of these programs, a comparative analysis is conducted involving a set of indicators related to the following aspects: (a) Demand for program resources; (b) industry distribution of the programs’ companies and; (c) regional distribution of the programs’ companies.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    In Brazil, the main laws marking this policy are the Innovation Law (10.973, 2004), which proposes the means to stimulate innovation, scientific, and technological research activities in a productive environment and the Wellness Law (11.986, 2005) that creates special tax incentive schemes for technological innovation, for example, the removal of certain tax requirements. Chile introduced the Tax Incentive Law for R&D (20.241, 2008), which allows private firms to reduce their tax obligations by up to 35 % of their R&D resources. This law was amended in 2013 to extend access to this benefit.

  2. 2.

    The case of Mexico can be considered an outlier, given the increase in the rate of researchers employed by firms (from 19.7 % in 2000 to 45.3 % in 2005, and falling to 41.5 % in 2010). This rate surpassed even Spain (33.7 %), Portugal (22.9 %), and Brazil (25.9 %) (RICyT 2013). Dutrénit and Arza (2010, p. 111) stresses that despite such a phenomenon, this has not been reflected in an increase in innovative capacities in the industrial sector; the redistribution of researchers represents one of the most remarkable structural changes in the Mexican innovation system profile in recent years.

  3. 3.

    Luchillo (2009) points out that these data present a significant correlation between master’s degree holders and their employment in the business sector in Mexico. This could explain the increase of the proportion of researchers employed in the business sector in this country during the last decade.

  4. 4.

    To illustrate this phenomenon, in 2000, 1440 postgraduate programs in Brazil (master’s and doctorate) granted by CAPES (Brazilian Council For The Improvement of Third Level Education Programs). In 2010, this number increased to 2840. However, in 2000, CAPES granted 20,470 scholarships for master’s and doctorate degrees; this number more than doubled in 2010 to 54,848 (CAPES 2013). In Chile in 2004, there were 394 master’s degrees and 115 doctorate programs offered by the Universities of the Rectors’ Council. By 2012, these numbers increased to 610 and 171, respectively (Chilean National Educational Council 2012). Similarly for this country, the number of doctorate scholarship recipients under CONICyT (national and foreign) increased from 429 in 2006 to 816 in 2012 (Estadísticas Becas, CONICyT 2013).

  5. 5.

    An established legal entity, at the time of its application, related and led by one or more firms, holdings, entrepreneurs, or a group of entrepreneurs (e.g., professional associations and cooperatives), with its main activities being in R&D and being able to effectively demonstrate technological transfer capacity to the productive sector.

  6. 6.

    It is important to note that this picture refers to the latest data available from the Technological Innovation Survey 2009–2011, and may have changed in recent years. However, this is valid to stress the problem in the context of the demand for public resources for innovation.

  7. 7.

    This measurement is based on a representative sample of 144,141 firms at a national level. According to the survey, 26.9 % of the sample firms have undertaken innovation activities.

  8. 8.

    The southern region of Araucanía presents the highest innovation rate in the country: 30 % of firms conducted some type of innovation project between 2009 and 2010. The Magellan region, in Chilean Patagonia, comes in second with an innovation rate of 26.6 %, followed by the northern Antofagasta region with 26.2 %.

  9. 9.

    The data refer to “other forms of support,” among which are RHAE program scholarships (IBGE 2013).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Authonomous University of Mexico, CEPHIS-UNAM, Merida, Mexico

    Eliana A. Arancibia Gutiérrez

  2. Department of Science and Technology Policies, Unicamp and Renato Archer Information Technology Center (CTI Renato Archer/MCTI), Campinas, Brazil

    Fábio Couto e Silva Neto

Authors
  1. Eliana A. Arancibia Gutiérrez
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  2. Fábio Couto e Silva Neto
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Eliana A. Arancibia Gutiérrez .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Education, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong

    Hugo Horta

  2. Instituto Superior Tecnico, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal

    Manuel Heitor

  3. University Diego Portales, Santiago, Chile

    Jamil Salmi

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© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

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Gutiérrez, E.A.A., Couto e Silva Neto, F. (2016). Promoting Research Careers in the Business Sector: Assessing Public Policy Instruments in Brazil and Chile. In: Horta, H., Heitor, M., Salmi, J. (eds) Trends and Challenges in Science and Higher Education. Knowledge Studies in Higher Education, vol 3. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-20964-7_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-20964-7_9

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-20963-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-20964-7

  • eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)

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