Innovation Capability Building, Learning and Institutional Frameworks in Latin Americas’ Natural Resource Processing Industries: Experiences from Argentina, Brazil and Chile: Biofuels

FIGUEIREDO PAULO; EVA DANTAS; ANABEL MARIN; YAMILA KABABE; CLAUDIO BRAVO ORTEGA; GOMES SAULO; GONZALES RAFAEL; MARCELA COHEN

Workshop; 3rd Workshop Project: Innovation Capability Building, Learning and Institutional Frameworks in Latin Americas’ Natural Resource Processing Industries: Experiences from Argentina, Brazil and Chile; 2011

Fundacion Getulio Vargas

Emerging countries in Latin America such as Argentina, Brazil and Chile have had a renewed reliance on natural resources. In turn, due to new technological opportunities associated with pervasive technologies and growing demand for diversified products (Perez, 2007, 2008; ECLAC, 2008), there is growing potential for increasing the technological dynamism in these sectors. Such strategy would need to be based on adding value, knowledge and innovation to processes and products used and produced by natural resources related industries. This would also permit Latin American countries to improve their competitive position in relation to selected Asian countries (Perez, 2007, 2008). However, in order to take advantage of these opportunities a combination between rich natural resources endowments and sophisticated innovation capability building would be necessary. This paper investigates the levels and types of capabilities built by firms in the biofuels sector in Argentina, Brazil and Chile that can be leveraged to take advantage of the increased technological opportunities emerging.