Perspectives for Cluster Development in Brazil: Reflections Relying on the Experience of the Pro-Northeast Initiative

It is argued that although clustering policies have become fashionable lately, their applications demand many adjustments of culture and relationship among agents, which does not always occur in countries and regions trying to adopt such policies. Examples of some barriers to the success of such policies in Brazil are discussed here, which may condemn many of the initiatives under such policies strategies to failures. Some of these obstacles result from the culture of the country, developed along its most recent history. It is argued that the traditional dependency of the State on private agents and their lack of cooperative culture are the major obstacles to the success of such initiative.