HIGH-TECH DEVELOPMENT POLITICS - NEW STRATEGIES AND PERSISTENT STRUCTURES IN BRAZILIAN INFORMATICS

This article examines the current nature of dependency in the context of global restructuring, where technological change in computers and t elecommunications has made those sectors central for global economic c ompetition. The Brazilian policy to promote computer manufacturing and software development, or informatics, is an example of a strategy to transform dependency in this context. This article examines the politi cal and economic conditions that affected implementation of the Brazil ian informatics policy after it became the object of a U.S. trade inve stigation in 1985. It identifies three sets of structural constraints on policy choices and outcomes: trade conflicts with the U.S, governme nt, rapidly changing international product markets, and trade dependen ce. These constraints were found to persist, despite proficient and fl exible political efforts to adapt to changing market conditions and ma nage ties with foreign capital.