ABSTRACT
The most economic boom began in 1972 and ended in 1981, touching off a prolonged crisis. Ecuador's participation in Latin American economic integration programs reflected, until the mid-eighties, the government's interest in supporting import-substitution-based industry. Economically, Ecuador has witnessed a move away from unrestrained government support of industries dependent on import-substitution. In the 1950s, the state began to sponsor a strategy of import-substitution industrialization by creating a wide range of public organizations and a legal framework designed to carry out activities such as planning, industrial protection, credit, technical assistance, and market expansion. The history of industrialization during the oil boom largely explains industry's marked structural vulnerability to the external sector and industry's own sectoral difficulties. The surges in the export sector and the policies of industrial promotion provided an opportunity for certain individuals to undertake industrial investment.
