Uma análise microeconômica da inovação: o conjunto de rotinas das firmas industriais inovadoras do Rio Grande do Sul

Abstract

The influential routines in the innovative process of industrial firms are the focus of this work. Relying on evolutionary economic theory, it has in the concept of 'routine' the explanatory element for the changes (innovations) introduced by firms in market selection environments. In order to identify which set of routines the firms with the best innovative and economic performance performed, an analysis of the data of a research survey conducted in 2015 was carried out with 1,331 industrial firms from Rio Grande do Sul (RS). For this investigation, descriptive and bivariate analyzes of the data were performed first, and later, it was used the modeling in structural equations with Partial Least Squares (PLS) estimation. The study pointed to a set of 41 companies that perform above average performance and perform routines with the role of coordination and control and routines with the role of incorporation of knowledge. Specifically, they highlight routines such as: adapting the technologies in use to their own needs, prototyping, realizing the original design of their own products, integrating all sectors with the use of information technology, standardizing and documenting different work procedures, formalizing the production planning and control (PCP) and maintains adequate staff training. The results of the study corroborate with the literature that there is a set of firms that perform specific routines that give them better economic and innovative performance. There is also convergence with the literature that discusses innovation in Brazil and RS by identifying only a select group of 41 firms, out of the 1331 respondents, who have more specific routines focused on innovation and with results superior to others. The identification of the characteristics of these firms and their routines allows to increase the knowledge about the behavior of the innovative industrial firm of Rio Grande do Sul and, so, better reflect about some policies that aim to expand this restricted group of firms.