Este artigo analisa a evolução das teorias da firma à luz das mudanças tecnológicas ocorridas em três paradigmas: (i) a Revolução Industrial britânica, que dominou a economia mundial durante todo o século XIX e foi a base de observação para a elaboração da teoria neoclássica; (ii) o paradigma Fordista, que efetivamente deu origem à economia industrial; e (iii) o paradigma das Tecnologias da Informação, cuja construção teórica está baseada, principalmente nas correntes evolucionistas e neo-institucionalistas. A análise da evolução das teorias da firma e sua relação com paradigmas organizacionais distintos mostra que não existe um corpo teórico único e coerente, pois as teorias estão condicionadas por diferentes filiações metodológico-teóricas, enfocam aspectos distintos (produção ou transação) e baseiam-se em contextos institucionais, históricos e setoriais diversos. Conclui que o processo de mudanças tecnológicas e institucionais exige que a teoria evolua continuamente, adotando aportes interdisciplinares e recorrendo mais sistematicamente a pesquisa empírica.

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Ð Market liberalization has been carried out by many developing countries in the hopes of stimulating trade, investment and technology transfer. In order to analyze the impacts of liberalization on a speci®c industry sector, this paper compares the experiences of Brazil and Mexico in liberalizing the computer industry in the 1990s. The authors conclude that liberalization leads to lower prices and more rapid diusion of computer use throughout the economy, but at a cost to domestic computer ®rms who were harmed by foreign competition. Both countries saw an increase in computer production, but Mexico's production was mainly for export to the United States, while Brazil was producing for the domestic market. The dierences between outcomes in the two countries have been determined more by environmental factors than by the nature and pace of liberalization.

Brazil presents an interesting case study of local factors influencing the adoption and impacts of e-commerce. It is a large developing country in which some segments of the economy are technologically sophisticated while others are quite backward. Based on existing knowledge of Brazil's economic and policy environment and its experience with other information technologies, we develop three themes that encompass a priori expectations about the diffusion and impacts of e-commerce. First is the expected leadership of the financial sector, driven by strong IT capabilities and a historical orientation toward automation. Next is the leadership of large firms in adopting e-commerce, driven by economies of scale and scope that enhance the perceived benefits of adoption. Third is the relative importance of local versus global forces in driving e-commerce diffusion. Unlike other countries in which globalization is a driver of e-commerce diffusion, Brazil's relatively low international integration of the manufacturing industry, its large size, and its historical inward orientation are expected to reduce the role of global factors as e-business drivers. We analyse results from a ten-country survey of 2,100 firms, including 200 in Brazil, to examine these propositions in the light of empirical evidence. We find support for each of the themes. In addition we find that the lack of an adequate legal and regulatory environment to support e-commerce has been an important barrier to adoption.