摘要：{Abstract } The hues of theoretical approaches from references situate competitiveness in the lines of performance and efficiency, to those that discuss the industry market structure, resources, competencies and productivity. In the second half of the last century emerged the neo-Schumpeterian and Institutional Economics chains that insert on the schedule issues related to specific resources, capacity, competencies and innovations. Therefore, a research question is raised: how is it possible to estimate the competitiveness and productivity of Alagoas industry from the construction of industrial competitiveness indicators? Under this theoretical approach, the estimated index of industrial competitiveness was performed through the indicators: efficiency, performance and capacity (Kupfer, 1991). To refine and deepen this reflection, this article aims to estimate the degree of competitiveness of companies in relation to their peers in Alagoas industry during the period of 2008-2010 through the indicators noted above. Specifically, this research aims to create an index that allows comparisons between companies in the same industry. The study has a descriptive and exploratory nature and considered the census of medium and large companies and a sample of small industries of Alagoas state within an error margin of 10% and a confidence interval of 90%, comprising 110 companies investigated in the period from 2008 to 2010. As overall results, the Efficiency Indicator (EI) identified that the structure of Alagoas industry is, in most sectors, atomized and not much integrated, the Performance Indicator (PI) showed that the competitive advantages of Alagoas industries concentrated in the commodities sectors (Chemical, Sugar and Alcohol), because of absolute cost and scale of production advantages, the Capacity Indicator (CI) pointed out that there are problems of workforce qualification, fragility of the local innovation system and the absence of institutional partnerships involving the public and private sectors. As a suggestion for the sectors with high performance, there is a need to consolidate and expand positions in foreign markets and transform static competitive advantages into dynamic advantages to obtain higher profit margins.
