Since 1999, Brazil has made use of an important instrument to support Science, Technology & Innovation (ST&I) which is the sector-specific funds policy that currently supports twelve sectors of the economy. Experiences that consider investment of federal research funds have been employed since the 1980´s. The Fifth Generation Project, in Japan, the Alvey Program, in the United Kingdom, and the Small Business Innovation Research Program, in the United States, are some examples found abroad. In Brazil, before the Sector Funds policy has been created the Program of Scientific and Technological Support, dedicated to improving the development of high priority sectors. This article deals with some of these important programs, showing that such experiences did not happen without a theoretical basis, since the sector-specific funds already been diffused through the economic literature, which has Nelson and Winter (1982), Dosi (1982) and Pavitt (1984) as precursory.Since 1999, Brazil has made use of an important instrument to support Science, Technology & Innovation (ST&I) which is the sector-specific funds policy that currently supports twelve sectors of the economy. Experiences that consider investment of federal research funds have been employed since the 1980´s. The Fifth Generation Project, in Japan, the Alvey Program, in the United Kingdom, and the Small Business Innovation Research Program, in the United States, are some examples found abroad. In Brazil, before the Sector Funds policy has been created the Program of Scientific and Technological Support, dedicated to improving the development of high priority sectors. This article deals with some of these important programs, showing that such experiences did not happen without a theoretical basis, since the sector-specific funds already been diffused through the economic literature, which has Nelson and Winter (1982), Dosi (1982) and Pavitt (1984) as precursory.Desde 1999, o Brasil conta com um importante instrumento de apoio à CT&I, que é a política dos Fundos Setoriais, que apóia doze setores específicos da economia. Experiências de apoio setorial governamental têm sido aplicadas desde os anos 80. O Fifth Generation Project, do Japão, o Alvey Program, do Reino Unido e o Small Business Innovation Research Programm, dos Estados Unidos são alguns exemplos no exterior. No Brasil, antes dos Fundos Setoriais, havia sido criado o Programa de Apoio ao Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, dedicado a incentivar o desenvolvimento de setores prioritários. Este artigo discorre sobre alguns desses importantes programas, mostrando que tais experiências não se deram num vácuo teórico, visto que o conceito de setorialidade já vinha sendo difundido na literatura econômica, tendo como precursores Nelson e Winter (1982), Dosi (1982) e Pavitt (1984).