Insights from the Brazilian and Mexican Aerospace Innovation System: National or Regional System

Abstract

Although national systems of innovation is not a theory, but rather a focusing tool or a combination of conceptsrelying on established theory models, this paper explores the aerospace industry as a system of innovation andhighlights the structure, the institutions forming this system and the mechanisms employed to promote innovation.This paper will use a conceptual approach to introduce two models of national systems of innovation: the aerospaceindustry cluster in Brazil and in Mexico. We realized a content review of documents published in the Internet by thepublic and private sector to describe Brazilian and Mexican innovation systems. Additionally, we developed adatabase of different actors involved in these innovation systems and their related characteristics: region, size,mission, objectives, partners, customers and projects. We analyzed the above information to better characterize theBrazilian and Mexican innovation systems. Even if both countries are two emergent economies, there are majordifferences between them. Brazil has developed an innovation system focus on creating innovation. Whereas,Mexican innovation system is divided into two types of networks: international capital organizations that invest ininnovation and national capital organizations that invest in manufacturing. Both innovation system experiencecoordination failures since their actors have weak collaboration links.