ABSTRACT
During import substitution, the institutional structure was attributed to support for the industrialization process, production needs and investment for the development of large projects. In the 1970s, once the industrialization phase had been consolidated, highly specialized sectoral institutions prevailed, providing solutions to new management requirements for scientific personnel and supporting critical industrial sectors – electric and nuclear energy, oil and water – at the same time driving the scientific and technological activities schedule within national institutions. Government policies were important in order to carry out specific projects, considering both the operational and financial aspects. Liberalization policies, privatization of public enterprises and public subsidy to support demand for technological services have modified the modes of linkages and interaction between production system and institutions. During the 1980s and 1990s new institutions appeared and the older ones changed their activities and organizational configuration. Given this, particular attention is dedicated in the present chapter to the bridging institutions. These institutions are dedicated to support services for firms and other institutions (such as standardization, quality and certification, particularly to SMEs) and the reinforcement of inter-management activities. Bridging institutions have several origins, and financing can be public, private or mixed. The analysis is also devoted to the role played by the SEP-CONACYT Centres, a research system formed by different specialized institutions and decentralized in different regions of the country. Its regional distribution and linkages with a high heterogeneity of firms contribute to shape a specific intermediate structure supporting the innovation process. Within this institutional framework, our principal interest is the nature of networks that have been created and the features of the linkages generated by institutions and firms.
