The developmental state in Brazil: comparative and historical perspectives

The record of successful developmental states in East Asia and the partial successes of developmental states in Latin America suggest several common preconditions for effective state intervention including a weberian bureaucracy, monitoring of implementation, reciprocity (subsidies in exchange for performance), and collaborative relations between government and business. Although Brazil failed to develop the high technology manufacturing industry and exports that have fueled sustained growth in East Asia, its developmental state had a number of important, and often neglected, successes, especially in steel, automobiles, mining, ethanol, and aircraft manufacturing. where Brazil’s developmental state was less successful was in promoting sectors like information technology and nuclear energy, as well as overall social and regional equality. In addition, some isolated initiatives by state governments were also effective in promoting particular local segments * mIT – massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Political Science, e-mail: [email protected]. Submetido: 14/Janeiro/2014; Aprovado: 12/março/2014. Revista de Economia Política, vol 35, no 1 (138), pp 114-132 janeiro-março/2015 114 • Revista de Economia Política 35 (1), 2015 http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/0101-31572015v35n01a07 115 Revista de Economia Política 35 (1), 2015 • pp. 114-132 of industry and agriculture. Comparisons with East Asia, highlight the central role of state enterprises in Brazil that in effect internalized monitoring and reciprocity and bypassed collaboration between business and government (that was overall rarer in Brazil). KEywORDS: Developmental state; industrial policy; state owned enterprise; Brazil. JEL Classification: O14; O25; O54.