(Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú. Departamento de Economía, 1998)
This essay is concerned with the performance of Peruvian manufacturing industry and manufacturing trade, during the 1950-1996 period. This period comprehends the years of import substitution industrialization, the long economic stagnation of 1976-1990, and the recent years of trade liberalization and economic deregulation. The nature of import substitution is evaluated and, at the same time, an explanation of its limits and declination is tried in order to understand the long economic stagnation of 1976-1990. Finally, this essay puts special emphasis on the differences of the manufacturing industry performance during the context of trade liberalization, and the boom and declination of import substitution. The effects of liberal reforms on the manufacturing trade and on the competitiveness of Peruvian industry are analyzed with particular attention, both from the demand and input cost sides.
