University-firm collaboration has been regarded as central to the innovation performance of firms and, at aggregate level, of countries. These linkages have been widely promoted as part of innovation policy in many countries. However, there are no conclusive studies of the dynamics of these interactions in developing countries and most of the research on the topic has focused on one side of a two-sided interaction. This gap in our understanding is particularly relevant in the case of developing countries since their innovation systems are 'immature.' This thesis attempts to explain how multi-level factors shape the incentives for agents to engage in collaboration. The analysis reveals conflicting incentives on both sides of university-firm interactions. The productive and institutional environment, as well as the public policy under which academics, universities, and firms operate, create, often unintended, incentives both for and against collaboration. Increasing understanding of these interactions helps to align policy design. By studying university-firm collaboration in Chile, this thesis aims at advancing scholarship in four key ways: (i) by studying university-firm linkages in a developing country that possesses comparative advantages in natural resources; (ii) by incorporating management and innovation theories in the study of innovation incentives, which, until recently, have only been studied using market failure analysis in developing country settings; (iii) by using a novel analytical approach that combines the analysis of the supply and demand sides of these linkages, while also incorporating the multi-level factors influencing them; and (iv) by assessing the impact of university-firm collaboration on the innovation performance of a sample of Chilean firms using a novel dataset specially prepared for this thesis. This quantitative analysis provides valuable insight about the type of firms that benefit from collaboration with universities and about the type of innovations activities that produce these benefits.

Made available in DSpace on 2010-04-20T20:15:09Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 61070100604.pdf: 938851 bytes, checksum: 96c41a2dd6d4e66940fcfb435d19a568 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-04-27T00:00:00Z / The goal of this study is to contribute to the understanding of the technological innovation process in Brazilian biotechnology firms. To achieve that, the study sought to: identify the most critical factors to the innovation process of the firms in this sector; analyze the sector’s dynamics and the contribution of universities and incubators to the innovation process and; evaluate how these elements affect the management process on technological innovation inside and outside the boundaries of the organization. This exploratory study with qualitative approach was based on multiple case study methodology and the results were interpreted using content analysis technique, as well as the analysis of secondary data. The study indicated that among the many obstacles to innovation, access to financial assets is the most critical. Partnerships, pointed as an alternative to this and other problems by reducing investments and risks and by providing access to qualified workforce, equipments and sophisticated laboratories, have been hindered by a series of institutional and regulatory factors – starting by the lack of clear laws and rules regarding intellectual property. On top of this there is still an incipient collaborative culture among firms. The results of the study show that Brazilian biotechnology firms try to compensate theses obstacles by providing agility to its internal processes, creating flexible organizational structures and an organizational environment favorable to innovation, which is internalized as practice in a tacit way. The management of innovation happens in an informal and little systematic way. Finally, the results show that the process of innovation in Brazilian biotechnology firms takes advantage of a pro-active attitude of managing and learning with the adversities adopted by these firms. / O objetivo deste trabalho é contribuir para o entendimento do processo de inovação tecnológica nas empresas brasileiras de biotecnologia. Para isso, procurou-se: identificar os fatores mais críticos ao processo de inovação das empresas do setor; analisar a dinâmica do setor e a contribuição das universidades e incubadoras para o processo de inovação e; avaliar como esses elementos afetam o processo de gestão da inovação tecnológica dentro e fora da organização. Este estudo exploratório de natureza qualitativa baseou-se na metodologia de estudo de casos múltiplos e para interpretação dos resultados foi utilizada a técnica da análise de conteúdo, bem como com a análise de dados secundários. O estudo indicou que entre os muitos obstáculos à inovação, o acesso ao financiamento é o mais crítico. As parcerias, apontadas como uma alternativa para esse e outros problemas por proporcionar a redução do investimento e do risco e o acesso à mão-de-obra qualificada, equipamentos e laboratórios sofisticados, têm sido prejudicadas em função de uma série de fatores institucionais e regulatórios – a começar pela falta de leis e de regras claras relativas à propriedade intelectual. Somando-se a isso uma incipiente cultura colaborativa entre empresas. Os resultados do estudo indicam que as empresas de biotecnologia brasileiras buscam compensar essas barreiras conferindo agilidade aos seus processos internos, criando estruturas organizacionais flexíveis e um ambiente organizacional favorável à inovação, que é internalizada, como prática, de maneira tácita. O processo de gestão da inovação ocorre de maneira informal e pouco sistematizada. Por fim, os resultados mostram que o processo de inovação nas empresas brasileiras de biotecnologia beneficia-se de uma postura pró-ativa adotada por elas de gerenciar e aprender com as adversidades.