ABSTRACT
The year 1990 marked a turning-point in the framework of industrial development in Brazil. The Collor government, which had set out to initiate a process of industrial modernization, in June of 1990 adopted the core elements of medium-and long-term structural reforms which spelled the end of import substitution. The industrial policy worked out by Collor and his team was an attempt to initiate a transition from a sheltered domestic market to competitive structures. The label “neoliberalism” that was used in the Brazilian discussion to designate this policy is not entirely appropriate: although liberalization and deregulation were important instruments, the liberal concepts were countered by neostructuralist ideas that found expression in the active policy components, in particular industrial and technology policy.
