Abstract
This paper intends to analyse the controls on technology imports in Brazil during the second half of the twentieth century. The discussion begins with a reflection on Brazilian industrialization, identifying the access to technology as a controversial issue. Once it defined the demands of the most dynamic sectors of domestic industry, the government intervened in the technology market, with a view to strengthening the buyers’ bargaining power and to controlling remittances abroad. Later, we examine the mechanisms of representation of business interests, the industrialists ́ reaction to State intervention, as well as the emergence of internal conflicts among groups of industrialists.
These factors (although neither exclusive nor sufficient) lead to a shift in the government’s treatment of technology imports during the 90’s. This historical study intends to constitute a first step towards further analyses concerning the impacts of different policies upon the Brazilian development process.