WORKING WITHOUT FORD: INDUSTRIAL POLICY AND CORPORATE ACTION IN SÃO BERNARDO DO CAMPO

Abstract

Our aim is to understand the closure of the Ford plant in São Bernardo do Campo (SP), in light of the federal industrial policies for the automotive sector. We have analysed the effects of the Inovar-Auto program in terms of labour preservation in the automotive chain. They were related them to the changes in the industrial labour market in the city, and to the closure of the Ford factory, in 2019. We have operated from the sector statistics, labour data (RAIS and CAGED), in addition to interviews, in order to demonstrate that the Inovar-Auto program, which aimed to award the manufactures with fiscal incentives if they would invest in Brazil, has revealed itself to be incapable of preserving or expanding the jobs in the sector. This has some relation to Ford’s decision. Therefore, we intend on also contribute to the research about profit strategies of the automotive corporations in various institutional scenarios, in relation to the sociological research about comparing capitalism.

Keywords:
Comparative Capitalism; Employment; Corporate Strategies; Ford; Inovar-Auto