Knowledge-intensive entrepreneurship

Abstract

The project consists in a long-term research program (5-years) to study the interactions between entrepreneurship, innovation, and economic growth in Brazil. The program will focus primarily on knowledge-intensive entrepreneurship as a necessary mechanism and an agent of change mediating between the creation of knowledge and technical advancement and its transformation into economic activity. Knowledge-intensive entrepreneurship is perceived herein as a core interface between two interdependent systems: the knowledge generation and knowledge diffusion system, on the one hand, and the productive system, on the other. Both systems - and therefore also entrepreneurship - shape and are shaped by the broader social context - including customs, culture, and institutions. This research program will have two main objectives: at the micro level, it will study in depth the very act of knowledge-intensive entrepreneurship, its defining characteristics, boundaries, scope and incentives. Thus it will examine knowledge-intensive entrepreneurship and innovation in high technology as well as in low technology sectors and in services. In addition to science and technology and the supply side, it will pay a lot of attention to the demand side and to the social and cultural dimensions. It will also examine, in depth, the organization, networks and strategies related to knowledge-intensive entrepreneurship. At the policy level, the program will take a systemic approach aiming at linking and integrating diverse sets of policies that influence the creation and growth of innovative entrepreneurial ventures. A core aim is to translate the analytical findings into diagnostics tools for country and sector specific assessments of knowledge-intensive entrepreneurship and into concrete, operational policy recommendations, by taking into account the idiosyncrasies of different regional and sectoral systems of innovation in Brazil. It is considered imperative for the needs of the proposed program to run a survey of young entrepreneurial companies in Brazil. The survey will aim at yielding several hundred of completed questionnaires across manufacturing and service sectors. The survey instrument exists in two versions and will be adapted to the Brazilian context. It currently consists of about 26 questions creating approximately 300 information points (potential variables). Specific to the State of São Paulo, we would like to run a study on the PIPE program of FAPESP (http://www.fapesp.br/pipe/). A significant number of PIPE companies are knowledge-intensive startups. This would provide very interesting background on the development of these startups in Brazil and allow international comparisons. (AU)