Ipea carried out a preliminary analysis of the main results of the latest edition of the Innovation Survey (PINTEC), carried out every two years, released by the IBGE. According to the Technical Note Analysis of PINTEC 2011 data, considering only the industrial sector, after a systematic growth in the innovation rate in the four previous editions (31.52%, 33.27%, 33.36% and 38.11%), there was a drop to 35.561 TP2T in the period 2009-2011.
With regard to investment indicators in Research and Development (R&D), data point to expenditures representing 0.59% of GDP. For the director of Studies and Sectorial Innovation Policies at the Institute, Fernanda De Negri, the result reveals a stagnation in comparison with 2008 (0.58%).
The paralysis of innovation indicators in Brazil, in the director's assessment, is largely related to the international crisis that began in 2008, but also to an unfavorable situation and the characteristics of the Brazilian productive sector itself. The productive structure specialized in segments of less technological intensity, the low scale of production of Brazilian companies and the existence of few companies with national capital in more technology-intensive segments stand out.
The note highlights that technology-intensive sectors are losing space in the country's productive structure. Technological effort has increased in recent years in important industry segments, but their participation in the economy has declined. This explains why the growth in investments in R&D in the manufacturing industry (from 0.75% of net sales, in 2008, to 0.83% in 2011) did not translate into an increase in the R&D/GDP ratio.
The IBGE survey also shows the lack of skilled labor in the R&D area. According to Fernanda, the current situation reflects the lack, in the past, of public policies to encourage professional training. Read the Technical Note 'Analysis of PINTEC 2011 data'.
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