ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes the results of twenty years of "planned" import substitution and the economic dimensions of the crisis. It discusses the impact of import substituting industrialization (ISI) on the manufacturing sector and explores those internal and external factors which aggravated existing trends toward disequilibrium and ultimately helped bring about the crisis. ISI had clearly energized the manufacturing sector and spawned its development. The manufacturing sector's output grew and became increasingly sophisticated during the planned period and, correspondingly, its share of the GNP continuously rose. During the 1960-1980 period, the manufacturing sector experienced a significant increase in the degree of capital concentration. This concentration occurred along two lines: size and geographic distribution. Two sets of economic conditions aggravated ISI's inherent trend toward exhaustion: internal factors; and external factors. ISI'S inherently "imitative" nature contributed to the capital intensity of the manufacturing sector.
