The Role of Commitments to Get There: A Pathway for Fostering Collaborative Technological Innovation
| Páginas | 44-59 |
| Fecha | 28 Diciembre 2025 |
| Fecha de publicación | 28 Diciembre 2025 |
| Autor | Gabriel Falcini dos Santos, Sergio Luiz Monteiro Salles Filho, Adriana Bin, Ana Carolina Spatti, Luís Gustavo Delmont, Fabio Stallivieri |
| Materia | Derecho de las Nuevas Tecnologías |
J. Technol. Manag. Innov. 2025. Volume 20, Issue 4
44
ISSN: 0718-2724 - Journal of Technology Management & Innovation - www.jotmi.org
is journal and its contents are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0)
e Role of Commitments to Get ere: A Pathway for Fostering Collaborative
Technological Innovation
Gabriel Falcini¹ , Sergio Luiz Monteiro Salles Filho¹ , Adriana Bin² , Ana Carolina Spatti² ,
Luís Gustavo Delmont³ , Fabio Stallivieri³
Abstract
is study evaluates the outcomes of collaborative research projects for technological innovation supported by the Brazilian Company of Research
and Industrial Innovation (Embrapii) model in Brazil, focusing on the results achieved for participating rms. Despite growing interest in uni-
versity-industry collaboration (UIC), empirical evidence on the concrete impacts of structured incentive models remains limited, particularly in
developing economies. To address this gap, this research investigated whether Embrapii’s model for funding UIC eectively generates innovation,
strengthens rms’ technological capabilities, and leads to broader organisational and market outcomes. e analysis is based on a study conducted
with 179 companies funded by Embrapii and constitutes the rst comprehensive evaluation of the model. Methods include descriptive statistics,
Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA), Cost-Benet Analysis, and Input-Output Analysis. Results show that 68,2% of projects led to innova-
tions, and 91% of rms reported positive impacts—ranging from increased product value and market access, to enhanced internal capabilities.
ese ndings reveal signicantly higher numbers when compared to the innovative performance of Brazilian industry in the national innovation
survey, as well as gures higher than those found in other funding instruments addressing UIC. QCA suggests that intellectual property gene-
ration and competence building may contribute signicantly to innovation within Embrapii’s projects. Strong commitments from both sides of
cooperation - research organisations and companies - appear to be at the core of these ndings. e study provides valuable insights for Science,
Technology and Innovation policy design in Brazil and other Latin American contexts.
Keywords: University-Industry Collaboration, Innovation, Funding Model, Evaluation, Embrapii
(1) State University of Campinas, Science and Technology Policy, Campinas, Brazil.
(2) State University of Campinas, School of Applied Sciences, Limeira, Brazil.
(3) Embrapii, Brasília, Brazil.
*Corresponding author: g138390@dac.unicamp.br
Submitted: August 21, 2025 / Approved: December 19, 2025
1. Introduction
Beyond its historical role in economic growth, innovation now takes
on new dimensions, becoming essential in addressing global challen-
ges. For innovation policies to be more eective in achieving their
goals, contributing to economic growth, social progress, and environ-
mental performance, Research and Development (R&D) that stren-
gthens collaboration between research organisations (ROs) and in-
dustry has gained increasing relevance in addressing these challenges
(Galvao et al., 2019).
Furthermore, a transformative model of R&D and innovation must
take into account the dierences between countries in the Global
South. As the world grapples with social and environmental issues,
developing countries oen need to deal with added hurdles that deve-
loped nations have already overcome (Mohamed et al., 2022).
Brazil faces a historical challenge in its attempt to foster innovation to
gain international competitiveness. With high production costs and
low technological capability, Brazil has remained relatively stagnant
over the past 20 years in terms of investment in R&D and innovation
performance, despite numerous government incentives, particularly
scal and economic ones. is situation is not unique to Brazil but is
shared by many other countries in Latin America and other Global
South regions, such as India and South Africa (Bezerra Borges et al.,
2021; de Negri, 2017; Figueiredo, 2023).
Tailored public policies are essential to address diverse innovation
capabilities across sectors, as ‘one-size-ts-all’ approaches are oen
ineective. Impactful programs should provide exible frameworks
meeting varied company needs and mitigate innovation uncertain-
ties, especially in sectors with limited nancial and managerial resou-
rces (Fischer et al., 2022b; Salles-Filho et al., 2023). Collaboration bet-
ween research organisations and companies oers the potential for
sharing risks and costs in the development of technological innova-
tions (Salles-Filho et al., 2021). In addition, they can provide compa-
nies with signicant gains in research skills and absorptive capacity,
enabling them to better assimilate external knowledge and transform
it into innovative solutions (Fischer et al., 2022b).
However, Brazil does not perform well in terms of university-industry
collaboration (UIC): in 2024, the country ranked 75th out of 133 cou-
ntries in UIC according to the Global Innovation Index (GII) from
World Intellectual Property Organization. Some reasons have been
highlighted: misaligned goals, bureaucratic challenges, and disputes
over intellectual property (IP) oen hinder these partnerships eecti-
veness (Brito Cruz, 2019; Fischer et al., 2022b; Salles-Filho et al., 2023).
J. Technol. Manag. Innov. 2025. Volume 20, Issue 4
45
ISSN: 0718-2724 - Journal of Technology Management & Innovation - www.jotmi.org
is journal and its contents are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Even considering GII indicators altogether, Brazil has ranked the
50th economy in the world. Despite incentive policies, the innova-
tion rate in the Brazilian industrial sector has remained stagnant or
even declined over the past two decades (de Negri et al., 2020). Addi-
tionally, Brazil’s limited economic openness discourages rms from
pursuing innovation-based research, as competition is largely shaped
by the internal protected market, with the country ranking among the
world’s most closed economies for four decades1. To overcome these
challenges, innovation policies should go beyond nancial incentives,
for instance through fostering commitments and long-term collabo-
ration between companies and ROs.
In 2013, the Ministries of Science, Technology, and Innovation, and of
Education established the Brazilian Company of Research and Indus-
trial Innovation (Embrapii) as a new model for fostering UIC towards
innovation. is paper presents the rst comprehensive evaluation of
Embrapii, providing empirical evidence from 179 collaborative pro-
jects. It aims to assess the impacts of Embrapii’s collaborative model
on rms, particularly its eectiveness in fostering innovation from
the R&D projects. To do so, we designed a multimethod evaluation
approach, including a survey applied to companies engaged in co-
funded R&D projects and with the support of Embrapii itself for the
provision of secondary data.
Specically, we aim to answer the following research questions: (1)
To what extent do Embrapii-supported projects lead to innovation
outputs within rms? (2) Which variables were most relevant for
the projects to achieve innovation? And (3) which characteristics of
Embrapii’s model inuenced project outcomes? By addressing these
questions, we also consider the broader relevance of this model for
other countries in the Global South that face similar challenges in
promoting innovation through UIC.
2. Literature Review
2.1. University-Industry Collaboration: Conceptual Foundations
and Emerging Perspectives
University–industry collaboration has been studied under various
labels, for instance “Industry–Science Relationships” or “science–in-
dustry R&D collaboration”. In this study, we adopt the term UIC due
to its wide adoption, while acknowledging that collaborative arrange-
ments frequently involve a broader range of ROs, including both pu-
blic and private non-prot research and higher education institutes.
UICs are driven by a variety of incentives. From the perspective of
rms, they provide opportunities to reduce R&D costs, gain access
to cutting-edge scientic knowledge and research infrastructure,
connect with highly qualied professionals, strengthen internal ca-
pabilities, and share the risks inherent to pre-competitive research
and disruptive innovation. ese benets should be genuinely valua-
ble for companies, rather than merely perceived as an opportunity
cost (Salles-Filho et al., 2021). ROs, on the other hand, may bene-
t from engaging with real-world industrial challenges, increasing
the likelihood of commercialising research outcomes, and fostering
networks that can lead to future research and employment opportuni-
ties (Salles-Filho et al., 2021). At a systemic level, successful UICs may
increase national R&D expenditure, foster cross-sector knowledge
ows, and accelerate the development and adoption of technologies
with positive socioeconomic outcomes (Abramo & D’Angelo, 2022).
Despite their potential, UICs face barriers such as dierences in ins-
titutional priorities between academic and industrial partners, and
bureaucratic and legal challenges, particularly around IP (Bruneel et
al., 2010). ese are especially pronounced in developing economies
such as Brazil, where underdeveloped innovation systems and widely
varying rm capabilities oen leave individuals to bridge gaps and
where further empirical work is needed to understand how such co-
llaborations unfold and which mechanisms enable their success (Bri-
to Cruz, 2019; Grasmik, 2016; Zawislak & Dalmarco, 2011).
e literature increasingly explores relational and cognitive founda-
tions of UICs. e triple helix model conceptualises innovation as
dynamic interactions among universities, industry, and government
(Etzkowitz & Leydesdor, 2000), drawing from earlier frameworks
like national systems of innovation and Sábato’s triangle. More re-
cently, the concept of innovation ecosystems has gained traction as
a way to understand complementarities, interdependencies, and sys-
temic coordination among actors involved in innovation processes
(Fischer et al., 2022a). e concept emphasises not only universities,
rms, and government, but also the interactions with other stakehol-
ders such as users, nanciers, and society (Granstrand & Holgersson,
2020). Innovation ecosystems are characterised by shared institutio-
nal logics, co-specialised resources, and the co-evolution of capabili-
ties, which create an environment conducive to knowledge genera-
tion and diusion (Fischer et al., 2022a).
A key theoretical construct for understanding how rms benet
from UICs beyond the concrete outputs stemming from collabora-
tion, is absorptive capacity, the ability of rms to identify, assimilate,
and apply external knowledge (Cohen & Levinthal, 1990). Empirical
studies demonstrate that rms with greater absorptive capacity are
better positioned to internalise the outputs of scientic collaboration,
particularly when the knowledge involved is tacit and complex. is
capacity is shaped not only by R&D investment and prior knowled-
ge but also by internal learning mechanisms, routines, and openness
to collaboration (Fischer & Queiroz, 2016). In the Latin American
context, Ribeiro et al. (2022) have shown that rms embedded in uni-
versity-centred innovation networks oen count on their proximity
to academic institutions to supplement weaker internal capabilities.
Complementary to absorptive capacity is the notion of value co-
creation, which repositions UIC not as a unidirectional transfer of
knowledge, but as a mutually benecial process of joint knowledge
production, shared problem-solving, and reciprocal learning. is
perspective aligns with broader innovation paradigms that emphasise
interaction and iteration, such as user-driven and open innovation.
Recent studies in the eld of entrepreneurial ecosystems highlight
the relevance of value co-creation in collaborative innovation settings
1https://www.theglobaleconomy.com/rankings/trade_openness/
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