| This thesis addresses several aspects of Third World technology policy and industrial development through an examination of the Brazilian information technology industries in the 1990s. At the general level, this thesis explores how production systems change, e.g., how innovation in the organization of production occurs. Theories of industrialization that posit diffusion of production arrangements are contrasted with approaches that contend that productive capabilities are constituted locally and international models adapted to local conditions. Second, the thesis introduces production institutions--the division of labor--into processes of industrial change; the development of inter-firm linkages, industrial structure, employment relations, and managerial capabilities is traced. Third, the research assesses the implications of past policies and industrial trajectories for contemporary restructuring. In this respect, the research specifically examines how high levels of structural instability, technological dependency and weakly developed productive resources in Brazil have affected the adoption of flexible production arrangements.;Based on interviews conducted in 1991 and 1992 with government officials, unions and business associations, and executives, managers, and production workers at 34 information technology companies in Sao Paulo, Brazil, this thesis presents the following findings: (a) Contrary to leapfrogging versions of Third World industrialization, productive capabilities were gained slowly, through experience with manufacturing, collaborative problem-solving with parent and affiliated companies, and upgrading of employee skills; (b) Market instability has not, contrary to prevailing theory, generated the adoption of flexible manufacturing in Brazilian electronics; and (c) The interplay of international political and competitive pressures with local instability has resulted in industrial practices that minimize links to local industrial networks and labor markets. Together these practices constitute a "regressive" form of flexilbility, one in which responsiveness to markets is balanced against other corporate goals, including the spread of risk and the creation of buffers against macro-economic instability.;The research shows that production is organized to maximize both short-term profits and the transfer of risk away from the firm. A cheap labor strategy, with production still oriented to the domestic market, is coming to dominate many companies within Brazil. Corresponding commitments to long-term innovative potential, labor force stability and upgrading, and industrial development are largely absent. These short-term profit-making strategies provide a weak basis for long-term growth in the sector. |
