Abstract

The evolution of the Brazilian petrochemical industry is analyzed based on the economic development model set up in the second half of the fifties and on the political system established in 1964. The State undefinition in the first period of this industry (48 — 64) holds down the sector growth in the adequate proportion to the economie model requiring a great leap in the second period (64 — 80), possible by the enterprise (association among the State, local capital and multinationals). When the conditions that support this enterprise model are finished, it starts to fall down and the local private entrepreneurs get more dependent on their own capabilities to compete with the multinationals in a process that seems to draw the characteristics of the third phase of the industry.