Structural Heterogeneity in Santa Catarina's Industry

Abstract

This paper has as main goal to study the Santa Catarina’s industrial structural heterogeneity in a comparison with the Brazilian industry in order to contribute with the studies about the economics reality of Santa Catarina, identifying its relation with innovation and verifying the existence of a productive convergence. The Cepal’s economics theory presents, through the ideas of Aníbal Pinto, the structural heterogeneity as a result of the unequal generation and diffusion of the technical progress within a productive structure. The structural heterogeneity takes place in the internal productive gap that means the existence, in one productive structure, of developed and undeveloped productive sectors with different levels of productivity. The unequal generation and diffusion of the technical progress generates different levels of labor productivity that reflects in unequal wages and opportunities of access to information, knowledge aggravating the social inequality. Through the analyzes, from 1996 to 2011, of Industrial Transformation Value and Employed Persons data it is possible to calculate the labor productivity as a proxy for productive and structural heterogeneity – as proposed by IPEA (2011) – and observing it through the Industrial Newsletter of Industry and Trade – BIC – proposed by APEX – it is possible to prove the existence of structural heterogeneity in the Santa Catarina’s and Brazilian Industry, knowing that the first is less heterogenic than the second. The labor productivity data is compared with the number of companies that has innovated and with the innovation expenditure showing a mismatch between the Santa Catarina’s national industrial participation and the existence of innovative activities. The traditional industry concentrated the most of the Santa Catarina’s industrial innovation. This industrial segment has low productive level what shows that the innovation is not resulting in productive gains and so it has been ineffective to promote the productive convergence.