Brazil’s Import-Substitution Industrialization

This chapter examines the development of Brazil’s inward-oriented industrialization strategy, commonly termed “import-substitution industrialization” (ISI). Originating in the 1930s under the corporatist administration of Getúlio Vargas, by the 1960s the strategy had succeeded in transforming the structure of the Brazilian economy, turning it into a major industrial powerhouse. Successful though the strategy initially was in promoting growth and structural change, it nevertheless suffered from inherent flaws, notably its heavy reliance on imported inputs and a failure to produce and export efficient industrial sector. This chapter considers the achievements and failings of ISI in some detail and also discusses the results of attempts to reintroduce the strategy on a limited scale in the first decade of the 2000s.