Em busca de contribuições Schumpeteriana à Teoria da Regulação: as telecomunicações brasileira numa perspectiva evolucionária.

Abstract

Teoria Schuteriana e Economia da Regulação: o papel do progresso tecnologico e da inovação no arcabouço regulatório do setor de telecomunicações brasileira no período recente.

Infrastructure is the part of the economy that requires the most overview from the state. The state enforces quality control through regulation. From the 1970s on, most of the literature dealing with this issue is based on the so-called "Institutionalist" schools, with New Institutional Economics (in Portuguese, Nova Economia Institucional, NEI). Despite the advances made in this field, theoretical and empirical results remain lacking. One particular issue is that of changing technological conditions that alter the effectiveness of now-outdated regulations. In this sense, the contributions of the Economics of Regulation and the New Institutional Economics lack of evolutionary elements, arguably Schumpeterian elements. This work investigates how Schumpeter's ideas can be applied to regulation-related economics. In particular the issue how firms apply technological progress and innovative strategies is addressed. In short, this work's main research question can be posed as: can the roles of technological progress and innovation theory on regulation be understood? One assumption made in this work is that the effects of technological progress on regulated sectors cannot be ignored. Beginning in 1990s, new regulatory frameworks have emerged. The regulations that were in place until then have been made less important than those newer approaches. Empirical results presented in this work show that institutional and technological changes had a big impact on the telecom sector. Anatel, the industry's watchdog, had to adapt to these changing circumstances. Its role became more complex and required it to understand the new market structure and the firms' behaviors in response to these changes.