Maylisson Rodrigo Fonseca

This study focuses on analyzing the main indicators related to the productive sector's innovative effort, particularly in the transformation industry, and comparing the performance of productive activities in the State of Paraná in relation to the South Region and Brazil, during the six editions of the Technological Innovation Survey, from 1998 to 2014. Schumpeter's approach and the contributions of neoschumepeterians are used as a theoretical contribution, as they believe that the main authors of the current base the analysis regarding innovation and also the Innovation System. The study rescues the debate on regional development, the importance of innovation as the main element of competitiveness and the interaction of the productive sector with the science and technology system. From the methodological point of view, research is based on the collection, systematization and analysis of technological innovation indicators, such as: the main responsible for product and/or process development, the location and importance of information sources, cooperation relations, innovative effort and the qualification of people engaged in Research and Development activities. Through these and other indicators, the multivariate statistical procedure of the Principal Components Analysis was applied, which helped in the understanding of the differences and similarities of the innovative efforts of the regions. From the analysis of the data, it can be observed that in general, the efforts made to innovate in the transformation industry of Paraná are lower than those of the southern region of the country, which in turn are higher than those of Brazil. The average innovation rate in the Southern Region in the years analyzed, for example, is 38.16%, higher than in Paraná (37.50%) and Brazil (34.71%). These performances may be a reflection of the development of a later innovation system for the State, since industrial diversification is directly associated with the formation of more favorable economic environments for technological activity.