Pesquisa e desenvolvimento como ferramenta das políticas públicas nacionais de ciência e tecnologia : Um estudo de caso da eficiência da Lei de Informática na Zona Franca de Manaus por meio da análise envoltória de dados

Abstract

Through Research and Development (R&D) activities, the study of new phenomena is carried out as well as technological innovations are developed. Because of this latter characteristic, these activities are one of the main mechanisms of public policies of Science and Technology (S&T). Nationally, it can be highlighted Law No. 8,387, of December 30th 1991, which grants tax breaks to companies manufacturing computer goods installed in the Manaus Free Trade Zone provided that they execute R&D activities in the Western Amazon. One of the main gaps in the understanding of this type of public policy is the efficiency in which the resources used as inputs generate the expected results of S&T. In the literature, it is observed that the efficiency of Asian national systems related to R&D activities is obtained by using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). Therefore, the objective of this research was to analyze the efficiency of R&D activities coming under Law No. 8,387 using DEA. Amount invested, project duration and staff worked hours are considered input indicators while the amount of articles, patents and the development or improvement of products, processes or computer programs were the output indicators. Based on the input-oriented model developed by Chorner, Banker and Cooper (BCC), the average efficiency was 31.29% for 311 projects executed between 2011 and 2013, of which only 5.8% were efficient. These values indicate a low efficiency of R&D activities coming from Informatics Law in the Western Amazon. It was observed that projects totally executed by the companies were more efficient than the projects carried out by accredited institutions (in full or in part) and the projects that generated articles were more efficient than the other output possibilities. In General, it was observed that investments derived from the counterpart of Law No. 8,387/1991 generated few outputs and results in the majority of them low technical and scientific impact, with emphasis on nontechnological innovations, a result not intended by Law. Therefore, such findings are concerning for a public policy in place for more than 25 years. In order to obtain effective results, the State, as an S&T strategy in the Western Amazon, can redirect the actions of the private initiative so that the objectives pursued by the legislation are achieved.