ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to offer new empirical evidence on the subject in the specific case of manufacturing, and thereby to clarify the situation. The industrial sector has been the principal target of regional development programs, due to the fact that it is more footloose than natural resources oriented activities and activities oriented by the spatial distribution of population and income. It is important to note that this indicator takes into consideration differences in industrial structure between regions; the production observed in a given region for each of its sectors is compared with the expected production in the same sectors. The indicator for manufacturing as a whole is based on the sum of sectoral values, both observed and expected, and thus considers the different sectorial structures of regions. It attempts to analyze the competitiveness of the Brazilian manufacturing by region, and has aimed to evaluate trends in this competitiveness over the last 28 years.
