Innovation, natural resource-based activities and growth in emerging economies: The formation and role of knowledge-intensive service firms

Many Latin American countries currently exhibit a pattern of production specialization heavily biased toward resource-based commodities and foodstuffs. In natural resource based activities production is highly dependent upon environmental and ecological forces. Companies processing the resource strongly depend upon specilaized subcontractors and equipment producing firms catering for their demand for location specific machinery and process engineering know how Following a case study approach we examine here the growth dynamics of some of these activities and the extent to which they can become a new ’window of opportunity’ in the growth process of different Latin American countries.