Determinants of Innovation in Companies at Manaus Free Trade Zone

Almir Kimura Júnior¹, Roberto Sbragia² 
(1. Department of Automation and Control, University of Amazon State, Brazil;
2. Department of Economics, Administration and Accounting, University of São Paulo, Brazil)

Abstract: This study’s main goal is to comprehend how the main determinants of innovation behave in the companies of the Manaus Free Zone (MFZ). This is a descriptive, quantitative and correlational study, carried out through a survey in electronic format. The descriptive model included three determinants of the external environment dimension and four of the internal environment dimension, which were correlated with four types of innovation and three moderating variables. In total, were collected data from 122 companies (189 respondents), which corresponded to 28% of the universe. The structural equations technique was used to verify the correlation between the variables. Of the internal determinants, the Strategic Orientation stood out, whose influence proved to be positive and significant for three types of Innovation, Produtc, Process and Organizational. Of the external determinants, the Government Support and the Degree of market orientation had a positive and partially significant relation for Marketing Innovation. In addition, the company’s size and the fact that is Local or Subsidiary proved to be relevant for the relations studied. Based on the results, it is suggested that the strategic components receives more attention from the MIP companies, in order to improve innovation performance.

Key words: innovation, determinants of innovation, Manaus Free Trade Zone, MFZ

JEL codes: C3, O3