Desigualdades regionais em ciência, tecnologia e inovação (CT&I) no Brasil: Uma análise de sua evolução recente

The aim of this paper is to analyze the path followed by the regional inequality indicators of science, technology, and innovation (ST&I) during the last decade. The literature review i) reasserts the association between ST&I and the economic and social development; and ii) indicates a high level of ST&I inequalities in Brazil. The analysis is based upon i) descriptive statistics of regionalized indicators of ST&I; and ii) interregional and intra-regional inequality indicators of ST&I. It is shown that i) there was a slow convergence process of the scientific basis from 2000 onwards; ii) this processes can not be credited to the regional allocation of resources by the local science foundations, which basically followed the preexisting scientific basis of the Brazilian states; and iii) in the same period, regional inequalities of technological efforts by industrial firms deepened. As a result, the convergence process of the scientific infrastructure has not yet been capable of fostering a convergence process of the technological efforts in the country. Less developed regions not only count on a smaller scientific infrastructure but also on less effective transmission mechanisms from science to technology. Considering the increasing relevance of the ST&I policies at the national level, this issue can not be neglected in the formulation of regional development policies in Brazil.