The knowledge value networks generating and spreading technical progress to agricultural activities: the case of Brazilian aviculture

Author(s)

Thays Gonçalves de Lima Murakami

• Document type: Master's Dissertation
• Press: Campinas, SP.
• Institution: Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Instituto de Geociências
• Defense date: 2010-08-27

Examining board members

João Eduardo de Morais Pinto Furtado; José Maria Ferreira Jardim da Silveira; Júlio Eduardo Rohenkohl

• Advisor: João Eduardo de Morais Pinto Furtado

Abstract

This research purposes to investigate the knowledge production structure that is embodied in the Brazilian aviculture (broiler and layer), giving emphasis on the performance of national universities and research institutes (STIs). The investigation of the aviculture is related to the large Brazilian competitiveness in this activity. In the case of broiler sector, Brazil displays the third position in broiler meat production and the first position in exportation. What motivates this research is the importance that the generation of new inputs, practices and knowledge has carried out into the aviculture, increasing productivity, minimizing costs and improving products quality. Knowledge and innovations deriving from isolated and combined efforts not merely from genetic, nutrition and drug industries, but also from universities and research institutes, all of them immersed in what we called 'knowledge value networks'. Recognizing the great contribution that this groups of actors has granted to aviculture we mapped the companies and the organizations related to this activity in Brazil through the use of the Brazilian statistical source called RAIS and specialized poultry sources. Universities and research institutes, in particular, exert a crucial role inside these networks, forming qualified human capital, bearing remarkable scientific and technological researches, rendering technical and laboratorial services and even giving technical support to the production of new products and processes developed by supplier companies that, subsequently, will be introduced in the market. For the purpose of this research - to investigate the knowledge production structure focusing on the performance of the STIs - we analyzed aviculture related scientific papers published in Scopus database between 1970 and 2009. With the support of computational software called Pajek we generated co-authorship networks. Through the investigation of these networks we identified the most important STIs in terms of knowledge generation to the Brazilian aviculture and the STIs that presented a larger number of interactions with external sources, including the industrial sector (AU)