Alignment in regional networks: towards new metrics to assess the effectiveness of technology policy|Alinhamento de redes em uma região em processo de catching-up: em busca de novas métricas para avaliar a efetividade da política tecnológica

• Autor(a) principal: Costa, Janaina Oliveira Pamplona da
• Data de Publicação: 2019
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Revista Brasileira de Estudos Urbanos e Regionais (Online)
• Texto Completo: https://rbeur.anpur.org.br/rbeur/article/view/5833
• topic: Network alignment; Network governance and structure; Technology Policy; Recife and Porto Digital; Software

This article addresses how regional level network governance and structure influence the effectiveness of technology policy to improve local firms’ innovativeness in a catching-up context. It examines network alignment through an investigation of network governance (i.e., coordination) and structure. Our contribution to the literature relates to the employment of original metrics that allow the understanding of meaning, features and roles of network ties and, therefore, whether network governance and structure have a consistent influence on firms’ engagement in network and their innovative performance. The empirical evidence is based on a Brazilian laggard region that has been the focus of technology policy to promote industrial and regional development, the Recife software network of innovation (Porto Digital). We find that implementation of a technology policy and formation of networks to improve firm-level innovation and regional catch-up should involve careful consideration of the intended effects: membership of a network may not be a sufficient condition for improving innovation at firm level.