Co-evolution of Institutional Frameworks and Technological Capability Building across Different Industrial Regimes: the Ethanol Industry in Brazil

Abstract

This paper examines the co-evolution of institutional frameworks and technological capability building at the level of firms. This relationship is examined in the bio-ethanol
industry from 1970 to 2009 in Brazil and across different policy regimes. Based on first-hand empirical evidence, this paper shows that the institutional frameworks have played
an important role in the development of innovation capability in firms of the ethanol industry. However, from the 2000s a large part of these innovation capabilities began to
reside in institutions such as research institutions and universities. This may have negative implications for the sustainability of innovation and commercial performance of
this industry in Brazil in the medium-term.