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The main goal of this PhD dissertation is to empirically investigate the Dutch disease hypothesis for the Brazilian economy from 1995 to 2009. In order to pursue this, the work examines the following question: Is there any evidence capable of corroborating the relationship between commodity export specialization and the real exchange rate appreciation in Brazil during the recent period? The hypothesis of the work is based on the argument that the trend towards exchange rate appreciation and the increase in international commodity price, especially since 2003, are key factors to propitiate the manifestation of the Dutch disease symptoms in Brazil. The analysis of such problem is developed in three interdependent essays. The first essay investigates the relation between exchange rate, commodity exports and economic growth based on the curse of natural resources literature. The next essay analyzes the relation between exchange rate and commodity prices according to the commodities currencies literature for countries with abundant natural resources. The last essay evaluates the impact of the exchange rate and commodity prices on the production and employment of industrial sectors in order to address possible evidence of deindustrialization. The results from the empirical investigation indicate some evidence in favor of the Dutch disease in Brazil through the significant role of exports and commodity prices, particularly food and raw material, to explain the exchange rate appreciation and the lower economic growth in the recent period. Furthermore there is a significant role of the increase in certain commodity prices (food and raw materials) to the exchange rate appreciation. Last but not least, there is evidence of the requirement to pursue a more competitive exchange rate to stimulate production and employment of specific industry sub-sectors while high commodity prices have a negative effect on industrial variables. In a broad sense, the results from this dissertation revealed the relevance of price and specific (food, raw materials, minerals and energy) commodity export indicators to capture symptoms of the Dutch disease in Brazil. Other than this, evidences are more robust to investigate this problem in a long run perspective, emphasizing the difficulty of other studies trying to address the Dutch disease in Brazil focusing on short run analysis.

The 1990s are marked by changes related to the process of productive restructuring under neoliberal hegemony, leading companies to adopt strategies of rationalization of production with negative impacts on the world of work. In this sense, this thesis seeks to understand modifications in the work market, more specifically in the industrial sector, as of the process of productive restructuring and of a predominant conception of local development. The experience of the Larger ABC region ( Grande ABC - traditional industrial region of the state of São Paulo) is chosen as an object of analysis, recognized as a pioneer in Brazil in implantation of a socio-productive territorial arrangement, with a view toward confronting the crisis and its effects on employment in the industrial sector. Thus, the fundamental aspect analyzed is if the actions developed by means of social bargaining processes were effective in the reinsertion of workers in the work market, even if migrating to other sectors of the economy. In addition to analyzing the behavior of employment and income in that period, we sought to verify if the changes in trajectory or recovery of the work market as of 1999, principally in the industrial sector, also occur in the ABC Paulista and if are related to the process of reaching territorial consensus in ABC as an alternative to the crisis experienced by the region in the 1990s. Undertaking this research consisted of a bibliographical review of the theme; survey of indicators in the main statistical sources of the country, with emphasis on the database RAIS and RAIS MIGRA of the Labor Department (Ministério do Trabalho e Emprego - MTE); survey of official documents from intermunicipal institutions of ABC and undertaking interviews with researchers and local leadership2 of the Larger São Paulo ABC Region with the application of semi-structured questionnaires. Thus, the purpose of this thesis is to contribute to reflections regarding the difficulties and possibilities of territorial development as an alternative for confronting the crisis with social inclusion.

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The main goal of the three essays developed in this work is to investigate the main export determinants and its dynamics. In order to fulfill this task we develop three essays where one of them is based on panel data analysis and the remaining two based on vector autoregressive analysis (VAR). On methodological grounds, we can say that the first essay is based on a dynamic System GMM estimation for the export dynamics (90 countries) and the empirics is associated to a temporal dimension which involves the estimation for three different decades, 1980-1989, 1990-1999 and 2000-2008 and it involves six different model specification. The second and third essays are based on VAR models where the second one seeks to analyze six selected Latin America and Asia countries including Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Chile, China and India. The idea is to understand each country specificities and differences that are part of their international experience as emerging economies. The third essay has a regional perspective since it investigates export performance for Minas Gerais from 1996 to 2009 and the empirical investigation is based on three export models. One crucial empirical contribution of this work is the construction of a more detailed and more realistic for foreign export demand (income) based on the main trade partners which is clear a novelty aspect since many other empirical works on this literature uses the USA GDP or world imports as proxies for foreign income and this can be considered as a limited proxy to capture external export demand. One of the main conclusions we can draw from these three essays is that emerging economies have experienced a significant change in their export structure and patterns, especially when considering the new and crucial role of China in the international trade.

The general goal of the three essays is to analyze on theoretical and empirical grounds the international financial crises for advanced, emerging and developing countries. One can say that each Essay has its own specificities. The First Essay develops an analysis of the impacts of the 2008 financial crisis on economic growth for a number of advanced, emerging and developing countries using OLS cross-section models. The second Essay concerns in estimating the probability of occurrence of different types of international financial crises in the period 1970-2009 for selected Latin America (Argentina, Brazil and Mexico) and Asia emerging countries (Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand). The empirical investigation is based on probabilistic models (MPL, PROBIT and LOGIT) where the dependent variable is associated with a different concept of financial crises (external and internal default, banking crises, inflation and currency crises and general international financial crises). Finally, the last essay develops an empirical investigation using panel data from 1970 to 2009 and analyzes the main determinants of the different types of international financial crises for a sample of 118 advanced, emerging and developing countries using six concepts of international financial crises.

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This work started from the perspective that study a topic as hunger is not a simple job, because it is a wide and controversial topic. Recognize the polysemic nature of the question presented in chapter 1, implies multiple possibilities for analysis in each of its dimensions, and at the same time reveals the need for cut theme to accomplish the work. The option adopted by this study was to assess food insecurity in Brazil, considering the food inflation observed since the 2000s. This definition is justified mainly by identification, demonstrated in Chapter 2, that the main cause of hunger in the country, as in much of the world, refers to the difficulty of economic access to food due to lack of income, a framework that reflects poverty and state of underdevelopment. The improvement of public policies to fight hunger in the country, presented in Chapter 3, presents the importance of this aspect, which became, over time, their main focus. The situation of food insecurity in Brazil is related, therefore, the impact of these policies in the current context, characterized by food inflation, as shown in chapter 4. The assessment of these impacts was done in Chapter 5 of this thesis, using survey data from PNAD and POF. It was found from the empirical study, that hunger is a universal social problem under capitalism, with much higher incidence in underdeveloped and dependent countries, and that specific policies, such as Bolsa Família, don t have potential to overcome the problem, that is intrinsic to capitalist development, and that situation becomes worse in the context of inflation. The results indicate that consistent macroeconomic policies, with the generation of employment and real income, are necessary, beyond synergistic social policies, to resolve the problem of poverty and hunger in the country.

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In the last two decades territorial approach has been used as an instrument from public policies to improve development, especially, rural development in all Latin America and particularly in Brazil. This thesis aims to identify and demonstrate in which conditions territorial development is possible. For that, it was done a revision on the change of perspective from the growth to economic development highlighting the changing emphasis of the role of the state in the conduct of public policies. Afterwards, as unfolding of the crisis of the 1970s and 1980s and the process of democratization in the country we observe the incorporation of decentralizing proposals of public management. The policies whose theoretical and ideological reference is the neoliberalism earn emphasis, which led to use the local or territorial approach in conducting development policies in the country in order to encourage endogenous development. From these conditions, we carried out a comparative study on distinct territorial experiences in Brazil and in Spain, divided in two groups. In the first one, formed by the autonomously-conducted territories, in Brazil, we analyzed the experience of Cerrado Mineiro Coffee Territory and, in Spain, the Los Pedroches territory. In the second group, formed by the public policies induced territories, in Brazil, we analyzed the Noroeste de Minas territory, induced by the Secretary of Territorial Development of Agrarian Development Ministry, further modified to Citizen Territory. In Spain, the Medio Guadalquivir e Guadajoz y Campiña Este de Córdoba territories, induced by European Union Programs LEADER and PRODER. Therefore, the search methodology used as proceedings: theoretical and historical revision, case study with compared analysis, survey of primary and secondary information using qualitative and quantitative data as well processing and analysis of the results. Our study allowed us to conclude that a policy of rural territorial development induction is an important instrument to promote communities of depressed economies (disadvantaged in European terminology). However, it is insufficient the mere induction to constitute social and productive arrangements with the responsibility to carry out a diagnosis of territorial reality and to elaborate a project in order to favor a territorial pact creation and management. Besides the social and political conditions, not always found in Brazil induced by taking European territories, induced and autonomous, we verified the need of various infrastructural conditions (physic and human) for this national experience succeeds. Although we recognize the orientation change of the State role in this process, with the Citizen Territories, we conclude that it is necessary a reformulation in the rural territorial development policy in Brazil, form an adequate induced territory design till a better articulation of the different public organs in territorial actions.

This thesis aims to contribute to studies around the determinations of pluriactivity and its trajectory over the years 1990 and 2000 in the Northeast and South Regions of Brazil. In this sense, more than inquire about the reasons explaining the existence of pluriactivity in Brazil, this work intends to investigate its growing possibilities inside the northeastern and southerner family farming. It was used in the research data from PNAD/IBGE National Household Sample Survey for the period 1992 to 1999 and 2001 to 2009 and the methodology and typology of families of Rurbano Project (IE/Unicamp). Since the pluriactivity is a concept that describes the reality of the family that plays agricultural occupations (agricultural side of pluriactivity) and non-agricultural occupations (non-agricultural side of pluriactivity), studies point to the fact that there exist explanatory elements of pluriactivity that would be intrinsic and extrinsic to those families. Our working hypothesis is that the intrinsic determinants (those related to internal characteristics of household members, such as family size, age, education) are not enough to explain the behavior of pluriactivity over time. It is understood that the extrinsic determinations (those related to the economic environment, to the conditions of labor market in which families are embedded and to public policies oriented to agriculture) would be more decisive for the growth behavior of pluriativity. Among the extrinsic variables, this thesis considers public policies as the most important for the advancement of pluriactivity over time among families of family farming. It reinforces the importance of the State action through public policies directed to the agricultural side of pluriactivity, especially for the more fragile segment of farmers, for its growth trend. More than an external non-agricultural dynamic environment, it is necessary to expand and create public policies aimed to face the challenges experienced by family farmers in the performance of agricultural activity as a way to promote a trend of increasing the number of pluriactive households inside the Brazilian family farming by minimizing the possibilities of these families turn into non-agricultural households. Play this role policies as the National Program for the Strengthening of Family Farming (PRONAF), the Food Acquisition Programme (PAA) and the National Programme on School Feeding (PNAE), which will be investigated in this study.

The empirical analysis developed in this dissertation is based on the estimation of panel data models for economic growth and inflation for a set of 82 economies using the System GMM methodology. The estimation results for the growth models for the period of 1970 to 2009 provide a fundamental lesson for this work. Regardless of the result from an extensive part of the empirical literature suggesting that there is not a significant role for the exchange rate regime in affecting long run growth, and based on the results of this dissertation for the period of 1990 to 2009, the estimated results suggest that for the last four decades there is evidence that countries with intermediate exchange rate regimes are associated to higher economic growth when compared to countries adopting fixed/pegged exchange rate regimes. Other than this, the results for the period of 1970 to 2009 suggest a negative impact on growth were associated to episodes of sudden stops in capital flows. The estimated growth models for the two distinct periods (1970 to 2009 and 1990 to 2009) provide evidence on the relevance of the lagged growth rate for the current growth rate and also indicate that banking and debt crises are not statistically significant. On the other hand, the specific empirical results for the 1990 to 2009 period suggest that there is no statistically significant difference among countries that adopt and those who did not inflation target regarding growth performance, and there is also evidence of an unexpected result that countries undergoing currency crises have higher rates of economic growth. The results from the estimated inflation models using System GMM for three different periods (1990 to 2009, 1990 to 1999 and 2000 to 2009) and focusing on understanding the relation between exchange rate regimes and inflation, reveals an absence of consensuses both in terms of estimated coefficient signs and regarding their statistical significance. There is also additional evidence on the relevance of other variables such as monetary growth, government debt, real effective exchange rate change, real interest rate and lagged inflation. The estimated result for the dummy variables for debt crisis indicates that countries under this type of crisis have experienced higher inflation rates while the result for the dummy variable for countries under currency/monetary crisis suggests that the adjustment under this crisis might have contributed to a lower inflation within the period of crises. On the other hand, the dummy variables for sudden stop and banking crisis are not statistically significant. Other empirical evidence found, that is relevant for the thesis, is that the inflation target regime is associated to a better (lower rate) inflationary performance for the economies adopting such regime, based on the results for the period of 1990 to 1999.

This thesis supports basically the existence of inequality in capitalist system structure. This inequality is constitutive of historical determinations of capitalist social formations, which are organically formed into a global, hierarchical and combined system which tends to reproduce itself. The main focus is towards Latin-American social formations, their nature and global insertion. The motivation of choosing this theme arose when the World Bank presented, in 2011, an interpretation of the evolution of the Subprime Crisis. The defended idea pointed to a significant change in worldwide economy structure when several developing economies assumed leadership roles in determining the overall dynamics. Our argument is a different one, recovering main elements of Marx s interpretation concerning to capitalism nature as well other authors on Marxist Dependence Theory, who developed and deepened these propositions in their concrete treatment of Periphery. Thus, the aim of this study is to discuss the nature of Latin American dependent development as an offshoot of the unequal structure of the world capitalist system. In the context of contemporary capitalism, there is no modification in the international condition of Latin American economies, because they are countries that fuel the capitalism of the central system at the same time that they are conditioned to it. In the current phase, no longer exclusively providers of raw materials because their diversified industry, but remained essentially a reproduction pattern guided in exports of primary goods complementing them with more sophisticated ones. These elements keep a limited internal dynamic, as a form of compensation for such transfer remains by overexploitation, saving the difficulties of realization of production value. Given this situation, we indicate that remains the organist capitalism system as well a social and economic inequality intrinsic to peripheral economies. This is the nature of Latin-American dependent economies. So that, from the open trail proposed by theoreticians of Marxist Theory of Dependency, this thesis contests the approach from dominant field of Economy that highlights the advances of capitalism and conceal their mishaps, such achievements opened to all.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the dynamics of the distribution of resources from the Constitutional Fund for Financing of the Northeast (FNE) in order to verify how this distribution occurs, by number and value of credit loans, in federal units served by the Fund and, within these, in their communities, in the years of 1999-2010. It starts from the recognition that the Constitutional Funds, established by the 1988 Federal Constitution, are an important source of financing for productive activities and infrastructure in the North, Northeast and Midwest. Besides that, they have been created to foment the development of these regions in order to contribute with the reduction of regional inequalities. With the purpose of to observe the distribution of the resources of these Funds, in particular FNE is necessary to understand that this distribution does not happen separately, but within the context of a monetary production economy, where money, credit and banks play a fundamental role in economic growth and regional development, as advocates by Post Keynesian approach. According to this approach, the distribution of the regional resources tends to have a significant concentration in most dynamic regions and economically integrated into larger agents (greater economic integration), even in the case of funds released by public banks, such as the FNE, Funds administered by the Northeast Bank of Brazil (BNB). After reviewing the legal framework that underlies the functioning of the Constitutional Funds, in order to identify major changes since its institutionalization, we proceeded to study the information provided by the Ministry of National Integration and the BNB. Through the Simple Correspondence Analysis (ANACOR), processed in Stata software, we obtained the results of correspondence between two variables: volume of credit FNE by municipality/PIB by municipality and Human Development Index 2000, which allowed understanding the degree of interdependence between the level of funding credit of municipalities served by the FNE and the level of their development, respectively. Finally, with the discussion of the results, this thesis aims to contribute to the deepening of the reflections on the possibilities and the difficulties founded in using the Constitutional Funds as a major funding instruments for public policy for regional development.

The main aim of this paper is to understand the innovative behavior of Brazilian industrial businesses and verify the impact of innovation on two performance indicators: productivity and capacity for exportation. With the intention of reaching these goals, the thesis is structured into 3 essays. Essay 1 analyzed the behavior of the internal and external factors which influence the innovative activities of Brazilian companies. In order to do this, a theoretical framework was constructed concerning the innovation determinants and, after that, a descriptive analysis was carried out of a group of indicators obtained by special tabling for a sample of innovative and non-innovative businesses, with data from the last three editions of PINTEC Research of Technological Innovation. Essay 2 was an empirical investigation about the relationship between the innovation and production performance of Brazilian companies, by means of two productivity measurements: Work Productivity (WP) and Total Factor Productivity (TFP). To analyze such a relationship, the econometric methodology implemented was based on the estimation of cross-section models given in a panel, with microdata from the last three editions of PINTEC. The aim of Essay 3 was to verify the relationship between innovation and the probability of exporting and the intensity of exportation. The Probit, Bivariate Probit and Ordered Probit probabilistic models were estimated, with microdata from the last three editions of PINTEC. The results found in the three essays point out fragile innovative behavior in the Brazilian industrial sector which results in low productivity gain and low international competitivity, especially in high technological intensity sectors. Spending with R&D is still low in the Brazilian industry, especially when compared with more developed countries. Furthermore, it was found that innovative companies belonging to low and medium intensity industries make more investments in the acquisition of machines and equipment than in R&D activities. On the other hand, the companies in high technological intensity sectors have invested a greater percentage of revenue in spending on R&D. Among the results found it can also be pointed out that the innovation still presents a modest impact on the stimulus for performance in Brazilian industrial businesses. Note that innovation produces incipient impacts on competitivity within the national industry, which is reflected in the lack of the estimated coefficient for the innovation variable in that which refers to the productivity of the companies. Regarding the capacity for exportation, the results were positive and significant, and it can be concluded that innovation increases the propensity to export. However, when analyzing the intensity of exportation the results changed. The indicators of product and process innovation have a negative impact on the exportation intensity of Brazilian companies. One of the possible explanations stems from the fact that Brazilian innovative companies have focused on the internal market, and not on exportation. This evidence corroborates with some studies that discuss the Brazilian industry s loss of competitivity on an international scope, especially in the high technological intensity industry, the main source of product innovation.

The economic and strategic importance of oil made the issues related to energy security and access to oil reserves gain relevance from the 1990s on. It was within this context that the World Petroleum Industry, considered a paradigm of modern industrial organization of the 20th Century, restructured and experienced financial, technological and organizational innovations. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of such innovations on competitiveness, foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows, and oil production and trade. Thus, performance indicators (Revealed Comparative Advantage, Market Share and Intra-Industry Trade) were built and analyzed along with FDI inflows. This analysis showed that the consolidation of competitive advantages in this industry strengthened its main features regarding industrial concentration, internationalization, vertical integration, and meaningful participation of state-owned enterprises.

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The thesis has as its objective the study of Local Productive Arrangements of the Automobile Industry in the state of Goiás, as well as their contribution to regional development. The hypothesis adopted for the paper is that following the installation of the automobile industry in Goiás, there was a change to the economic dynamic of the municipalities which are part of their LPAs, with the attraction and fixation of other companies, although the Mitsubishi Motors Corporation of Brazil MMCB and Hyundai Caoa Automakers vehicles are mounted using mostly imported parts. The fact that these companies operate in complex assembly sectors induces, in differing degrees, the formation of arrangements, especially by means of the installation of companies of the auto parts and specialized services sector which can contribute to regional development. The thesis was structured in five chapters; the first chapter presents revision of the literature which makes up the theoretical and analytical framework, and themes related to regional and territorial development and construction of the LPA concept were addressed, as well as the main typologies used for its classification. The second chapter talks about the evolution of the automobile industry in Brazil, and presents indicators of income, business size, personnel employed, densification, productivity levels and average annual salary in the automobile industry in selected states and regions. The third chapter discusses the automobile industry in the State of Goiás, the spatial deconcentration and tax breaks offered to attract businesses in the sector. Following that, chapters four and five address, respectively, the LPA of the Automobile Industry of Catalão and Region and the LPA of the Automobile Industry of Anápolis and Region. The data was obtained by means of field research, and themes such as market, labor, innovation, cooperation, learning and advantages associated with the local environment, among others, were analyzed. Lastly, the paper presents the final considerations. As the main conclusion to our study, it was proved that the LPAs of the Automobile Industry formed in Catalão and region and in Anápolis and region can be classified, according to the typology proposed by Markusen (1995), as predominantly New District Industries NDI Industrial Platform Satellite, due to the tax incentives offered and also for possessing cheap labor, although they also present NDI Central-Radial characteristics, as they possess the MMCB and Hyundai Caoa Automakers acting as anchor companies. Both LPAs can be considered constructed , according to then typology proposed by Mytelka and Farinelli (2000). The LPAs, as in the typology proposed by Cassiolato and Szapiro (2003), possess governance carried out in the form of a hierarchy , with a degree of territoriality considered low , although actions seeking to improve this indicator are in the process of implantation in Catalão and region. Therefore, it is possible that Catalão and region s LPA could reach a medium degree of territoriality in the near future.

The doctorate thesis has the central goal to analyze the current account for a broad set of countries focused in a perspective associated to the global disequilibrium literature, which has raised new concerns and developments since the international financial crisis of 2008. The first chapter develops a historical review on the evolution of the international financial system emphasizing the comparative analysis of the main characteristics of this system in the Bretton Woods period and more recently, it evaluates the validation or not of the hypothesis of the occurrence of what is called Bretton Woods II, that argues the emergency of a new periphery composed by economies with very distinct characteristics reflecting the financial world instability, by the presence of major current account disequilibrium involving considerably number of economies. The argument opposing to Bretton Woods II is that the world is moving towards a financial system with flexible exchange rates since fixed exchange rate regimes imposes high costs to policy makers, requiring higher capital mobility and limiting the efficiency of monetary policy instruments. Other than this, the recent international financial crisis has raised doubts on the Dollar ability to transport value over time since it is the currency used for international transactions and in this context emerges the possibility of a smooth transition towards a shared leadership on the international financial system with the Renminbi and the Euro. The second chapter aims to develop an empirical analysis based on the estimation of thirteen vector autoregressive models (VAR) for a set of selected economies (advanced and emerging / developing). The variance decomposition analysis (VDA) and the impulse response function (IRF) reveals that the investment rate, the real effective exchange rate, the consumption rate and the capital flows (FDI) are the most import variables to understand the current account. The third and last chapter seeks to investigate the current account for a set of seventy-two countries using panel data analysis to estimate fixed / random effect (static) and difference and system GMM (dynamic) models for the period of 1980 to 2012. The empirical evidences corroborates the main results from chapter two. The investment rate is statistically significant in 23 of the 27 estimated models; the consumption rate is significant in 17 out of 27 models while the net inflows of foreign direct investment is significant in 10 of the 18 estimated models. The real effective exchange rate does not have statistically significant coefficients for the System GMM estimated models and considering the entire set of estimation there is statistically significance in only 8 out of the 27 estimated models.

The last two decades were marked by important economic and social changes in a global scope. The financial and commercial globalization, ally to the digital revolution , has been making easier the trade of information between culture, changing , in a subtle way, constant though, the worldwide feed habits . These transformations are bringing reflexes to the productive systems, marketing and logistics of the agribusiness products. It s being created the worldwide taste . Besides, in another way, a few phytosanitaries issues made the commercial walls , particularly by developed countries, using the feed security and the public health as justification. At this new scene, the firms starts looking for alternatives to get new consumers, and then, aggregate values to their products. In this moving, the work had the intention to show that, in special situations with some determinate product, the Geography Indication emerges as one of the alternatives to face the new reality. Search then, not only raises the income, but also the achievement of new markets, trough the singling of the products by the quality seals and accreditations. To reach the intended results, some hypotheses and problematic were noticed. The main one is that, in an international market subject by some amount of information, the competitor has a backdrop of a growing economic globalization. This globalization fiercer competition to reach the best market , that one which has the highest income and accept paying more for a product which offers the best quality to some determinate product. So, the unexceptional work, intended to inquire about the reasons that makes Brazil as a second position country in the world of the rural territorial brands, still being a big agricultural worldwide market player. Based in the analyses, all of them confirmed. It s not noted rude targeted incentives for promoting export and facing imports of value-added products through certifications, by the public s politics, the way we found through comparative study with Spain. In comparative studies, we noticed, still, the distance between our realities with the European s when analyzing the reality related institutions. Analyzing Brazil s fact, completely different than the found in Andalusia (Spain), perceives that the capital social and the representative organizations of agrarian interest s presence in Brazil are lower. Then, in Andalusia, the public politics supported by the social (rural) organization, has been supporting the producers to the achievement of their own accreditation products. Assesses that if there is a major concern of public servants and social workers for specific products in some territories, the IG may represent an important strategy of adding territorial income for rural production.

The purpose of this thesis is to contribute to the Brazilian literature on the innovative behavior of small and medium enterprises. The focus is the sectoral analysis to identify if the Brazilian manufacturing SMEs conform to sectoral patterns and if these patterns influence the innovative activities of the firms. This empirical work is composed of three different stages. The first stage refers to the investigation by size and sector using descriptive analysis of the innovative activities of the Brazilian SMEs by labor employed (for PINTEC-2008 and PINTEC-2011) and by sectoral patterns (for PINTEC-2008), according to Pavitt´s taxonomy. The second stage made use of a nonparametric methodology applied to the PINTEC-2008´s microdata to distinguish sectoral patterns for SMEs identifying if they influence the innovative behavior of small and medium firms and at last if Pavitt´s taxonomy is applicable. The third stage drew upon the logistic regression method applied to the PINTEC´s microdata for the period of 2006 to 2008 and 2009 to 2011, to verify if the sectoral technological patterns are significant determinants of the SMEs´ innovative process. That was analyzed for different types of innovative activities, such as: innovative firms, product innovators, process innovators, product and process innovators, highly innovative firms, organizational innovators and marketing innovators. Moreover, identifying if these influences differ from those affecting big firms. The results obtained reveal that sectoral dynamics are relevant to the innovative behavior of SMEs, similarly to what happens to large companies.