Drivers of Scientific-Technological Production in Brazilian Higher Education and Research Institutions

Abstract

This article estimates a knowledge production function for Brazilian universities, relating their inputs of scientific activity, such as the total of academic and administrative personnel and investments in scientific research, among others, to their outputs, such as the number of publications and patents. The article applies econometric models for count data, such as the Negative Binomial, for the 2003-2011 period. The overall results show that the main determinants of Brazilian scientific and technological production are the size of the university, its nature (whether public or private), the ratio of teaching staff and graduate students, and total investments in research and research support.