Estudo Comparativo Sobre o Padrão do Comércio do Brasil e da Coreia do Sul (1960-2020)

Abstract

This ressearch presents a historical-structural comparative study on the trade patterns and economic development trajectories of Brazil and South Korea between 1960 and 2020. In the 1950s, both nations shared similar socioeconomic indicators, characterized by low per capita income, precarious infrastructure, and predominantly agrarian peripheral economies. However, the economic and industrial policy choices adopted over the following decades generated a marked structural divergence. While Brazil based its growth on the Import Substitution Industrialization (ISI) model, focusing on the domestic market, South Korea implemented an Export-Oriented Industrialization (EOI) strategy, focused on gaining global competitiveness. Methodologically, the study combines historical-analytical qualitative analysis with descriptive statistical examination of secondary data from international organizations, such as the World Bank. The theoretical framework articulates classical and neoclassical theories of international trade — such as comparative advantage and factor endowment— with the structuralist literature on development and economic complexity. The results demonstrate that, throughout the analyzed period, South Korea underwent a rapid technological and productive catch-up process, anchored in strong action by the developmental state, the strengthening of large conglomerates (chaebols), and massive investments in education and Research and Development (R&D). This allowed the country to consolidate a highly technological export program. In contrast, after suffering from the exhaustion of its debt model in the "lost decade" of the 1980s, Brazil faced a process of premature deindustrialization and re-primarization of its export agenda in the 2000s, driven by the boom in agricultural and mineral commodities.