Catching up ou falling behind? As transformações da estrutura produtiva brasileira em comparação a indústria internacional entre o período de 1995 a 2014

Abstract

The technological and economical changes observed in the last quarter of 20th century, associated with the tech-economical paradigm based on the microelectronic, built the bases to the resurgence of the Networking company, which has led to the global manufacturing redirection. In this context, this study aims to analyze the changes in the Brazilian productive structure from 1995 till 2014 using as benchmark for the comparative analyzes the productive structure of United States, Germany, Japan, China and Mexico. We also search to answers to the questions regarding the movements of catching up or falling behind of the Brazilian manufacturing industry regarding to the international frontier. Through an extensive set of indicators to the productive, technological and international commerce dimensions, we identify the economic sectors that are catching up and those which are falling behind. The results show that there have been losses in industrial value added, GDP and industrial employment in all the industrialized countries, suggesting a deindustrialization process. On the other hand, the capitalist periphery has become industrialized by receiving the strictly productive stage of the processes, especially China. The Brazilian coke, refined petroleum products and nuclear fuel sector stands out for presenting higher productivity compared to the USA, revealing a successful catching up made by a developing country. However, in the last years, the productivity of this sector has fallen down. This effect of falling behind is observed in general in the Brazilian manufacturing industry, especially in the typical sectors of the microelectronic paradigm.