Tecnologia, distribuição de renda e implicações para o crescimento: algumas notas sobre a visão da CEPAL nas décadas de 1970 e 1980 [The effect of technology and income distribution on growth: comments on the perspective of ECLA, 1970-1990]

This paper discusses how Prebisch and Fajnzylber, two authors representative of the thought of the Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLA), interpreted the industrialization crisis experienced by many Latin American countries beginning in the mid-seventies. The focus of the paper is on the effect of technology and income distribution on growth, two variables that played a significant role in shaping the crisis. The ideas of the two authors are compared, and ECLA´s criticism of import-substitution policies in the mid-seventies and in the eighties is reviewed. It is argued that although both authors belong to the same theoretical tradition, there is a key difference in how they perceive the viability of capitalism in developing countries.