Title: Entrepreneurial firms and cluster competitiveness: institutions and public policy determinants

Authors: Jerry Haar; Fernando Coelho M. Ferreira

Addresses: College of Business, Florida International University, 11200 SW 8th Street, Miami, Florida 33199, USA ' Fundação Getúlio Vargas, Av. 9 de Julho, 2029, Bela Vista, 01313-902, São Paulo – SP, Brazil

Abstract: Globalisation brings many competitive challenges to emerging economies, particularly to small and medium-size firms (SMEs). Focusing on the information technology cluster in Brazil, Latin America's largest economy, and a high-tech municipality (Campinas) the researchers examined the role of governmental institutions and their interaction with business and academe to foster competitiveness. Despite a high quality infrastructure and an excellent workforce, most public sector initiatives are not specific to SMEs nor to the needs of companies located in Campinas. Factors like: 1) the lack of a governance structure to coordinate policies in support of SMEs; 2) the absence of sufficient public resources to support innovation and bring new products to market; 3) the inaccessibility of research centres for small firms hinders the growth and development of Campinas as a dynamic IT cluster. The researchers propose 15 specific actions to improve the competitiveness of SME technology firms in Campinas and in the cluster.

Keywords: Brazil; information technology clusters; public policy; entrepreneurial firms; small and medium-sized enterprises; SMEs; entrepreneurship; government institutions; public sector initiatives; governance structure; policy coordination; public resources; innovation support; new product development; NPD.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTIS.2013.056596

International Journal of Transitions and Innovation Systems, 2013 Vol.3 No.1, pp.25 - 49

Received: 01 Aug 2012
Accepted: 29 Dec 2012

Published online: 02 Jul 2014 *

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