This paper aims to measure the effects of government support for innovative activities on manufacturing firms’ R&D investments in Brazil. Using data from the 2005 and 2008 editions of the Brazilian Innovation Survey (PINTEC), the paper argues that government support does not seem to improve private R&D investment. This paper holds that governmental policies may be targeting private expenditures that would have taken place anyway. This paper suggests that this policy may have been out of focus and that a more systemic view of innovation policy should be adopted.
