“…Such abilities are frequently associated to the several dimensions of human capital (Schneider, Gunther, & Brandenbury, 2010;Vinding, 2006), internal (intramural) and external R&D (Battisti et al, 2015), (in-house) training (Leiponen, 2012), and the acquisition of new equipment Aurora A. C. Teixeira / Lilian Bezerra and machinery (Carvalho et al, 2013;Pires et al, 2008). A number of recent studies have called the attention for the issue of persistence in R&D engagement (see García-Quevedo, Pellegrino, & Vivarelli, 2014), that is, the engagement in R&D activities in a continuous, regular way.…”