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In the recent Brazilian trajectory, essays on the idea of local development have been gaining clear visibility and have become a key piece in the Brazil s new cycle of growth, either for economic or for social reasons. Within this context, this work was aimed to develop an instrument for analysis of the national industry, providing public managers and institutional players a practical apparatus to promote local development. A new model of life cycle called sector development index was created based on sectors and oriented by indices, thus identifying the development stages of industrial sectors. This index, conceived as a function that better discriminates the development phases of the industrial sector cycle, is composed of four variables (country s export participation, number of enterprises having patent applications, market participation, and number of enterprises) that represent, respectively, the sectorial structures being analysed: competitive, technological, productive, and social sectors. The index aims to be a source for policy, actions, and development strategies for public and private sector by encouraging industry sectors through supporting or inducing mechanisms.

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