The Evolution of the Brazilian Aeronautical Industry Between the 1930’s and 1980’s:

market structure and technological capability

Abstract

The Brazilian aeronautical industry began its activities in the 1930s, but only after five decades, in the 1980s, that industry began to gain prominence in the national productive structure and in the international markets. Thus, this article seeks to advance the understanding of the evolutionary process of the Brazilian aeronautics industry, dividing the analysis of this period into three distinct phases. The first phase, which includes the 1930s and the 1940s, is marked by various attempts to implement the aviation industry in Brazil. The second phase, covering the next two decades (the 1950s and the 1960s), is a moment of transition, which is characterized by two opposing movements, on the one hand, the failure of the initiatives of the previous phase and, on the other hand, the establishment of the Centro Técnico de Aeronáutica (CTA), which would provide the foundation for the development of the modern Brazilian aeronautics industry. Finally, the third phase focuses its analysis on Embraer, from its origin, in the late 1960s, until its consolidation in the 1980s, demonstrating that this process had the decisive participation of the National State and resulted in a competitive and modern industrial structure and concentrated in a large national company.