Incentives for technological innovation: a study of the public policy of tax exemption in Brazil

Abstract The goal of this paper is to explain relations between investments in Research and Development - R&D and innovation’s outcomes between the 2009s and 2013s in companies that are encouraged by the Lei do Bem (Good Law), which regulates tax incentives for technological innovation. Econometric Logit models were estimated for fixed effects. The analysis results indicate that the probability of firms presenting innovations in general (in products, processes or services) or only in products depends on the size of the company and the amount invested in R&D, particularly it depends on the investment in human resources - HR. On the other hand, the chances of firms innovate in process are limited to the size of the company, the spending specifically to develop HR programs. The results confirm that investments in R&D from the beneficiaries produce innovation’s outcomes.