ABSTRACT
The world expansion of capital, the technological revolution that has made the productive process more flexible, the emergence of economic unions between nations, the collapse of the former Soviet bloc with the dissolution of the USSR and the long-term cycle of recession in the world economy-these are some of the factors that explain the growing implementation in the majority of countries of a model that establishes the openness to international trade, deregulation of economic activity, privatization of state firms and the decentralization of public management.
