Characteristics of Brazilian innovative firms: An empirical analysis based on PINTEC—industrial research on technological innovation

Abstract The present paper reports on an effort to characterize Brazilian innovative firms. The characterization of the firms was based on the data from PINTEC-2000 (Industrial Research on Technological Innovation-2000). A non-parametric statistical procedure was employed which informed, in a decreasing order, that the four major predictors of innovation were exporting orientation, firm size, foreign capital origin, and inter-industry differences. The main determinants of whether firms introduced a new process in the market were foreign or mixed capital origin, sector effect, and export orientation. When the introduction of new products in the market was assessed, the major determinants were export orientation and foreign capital origin.