This paper uses a database of patent applications from the Brazilian Patent Office (INPI) to throw some light on the relationship between innovation and regional development in the state of Minas Gerais. The objectives are described as follows: 1) to identify the main determinants of innovation in the municipalities of Minas Gerais considering the variables emphasized by the international literature; 2) to determine the relation existing between the urban structure of the state of Minas Gerais and its innovative performance; 3) to reveal the patterns of spatial associations and to identify significant spatial clustering of technological activity; 4) to verify the occurrence of interregional knowledge spillovers. The results showed that the innovative activity is spatially concentrated and presents a major tendency to take place around the metropolitan area of Belo Horizonte. The urban structure of the state is pointed out as a cause of this spatial distribution of the technological activity because great part of its municipalities do not have urban scale and minimum conditions required by the innovative process.
technological activity; patents; urban structure; Minas Gerais
