Estratégias de investimentos e concentração no setor de tecnologias da informação brasileiro no período 1999-2002

The process of resources transfers in the Brazilian Information Technology market was analyzed using 1999-2002 data concerning inter firm investments. Theoretical concepts of Industrial Organization and Information Economics were used to elude the role of forces such as: Speculative Bobble, structural organization and exploitation of technological convergence. The results show capital centralization. Investors adopt strategies such as geographical expansion, horizontal mergers, vertical integration, diversification and portfolio. The first two cover Internet Service Providers that entry on Brazilian market. Vertical integration is often used by 'traditional' companies, which adopted the Internet as a new way to spread their goods. Diversification and geographical expansion are represented by investments in Internet sites and by phone companies doing arrangements on the eve of crucial changes in 2002, concerning telecommunications market. Short-term investments in Internet sites, seeking high and quickly profits, is the dominant strategy used by financial companies. Brazilian Information Technologies market is been structured in a complex way. One can find the Information Economics features on it, with emphasis on cooperation arrangements. It is also deeply controlled by regulation laws and characterized by technological convergence, which creates business opportunities, but makes the barriers between markets and between competitors to become fuzzy.