This paper analyses whether contemporary economic policy can reconcile the objectives of competitiveness and industrial efficiency with those of regional policy in general and regional equity in particular. It addresses this issue from the standpoint of the periphery of world capitalism by focusing on the case of economic integration under developmentist Brazil. The case study is based on input-output-analyses for 1980 and 1985 concerning the implications of the 1980s Brazilian export expansion of the country’s less-favoured region, the Northeast. The case study supports the view that regional convergence can be fostered along with improvements in industrial competitiveness, even in the presence of a traditional development strategy. Industries targeted in the past by industrial policy were also those that presented higher export coefficients and faster rates of export expansion in the changed political environment. Nevertheless, the increase 01 per capita income and the interdependency between regional firms has not reduced social polarisation.
