CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE COTTON AND COFFEE ECONOMIES TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF MARANHÃO AND SÃO PAULO

Abstract

The article describes the cotton economy in Maranhão, in the period of 1760 to 1888, and the coffee economy in São Paulo, from 1817 to 1929. The author searches for responsible factors through the different processes of development that occurred in both Brazilian states, concerning these activities. The study analyzes how different variables - as capital accumulation, new investments, introduction of technological innovation and the use of the economic policy for the benefit of the productive classes - considered for both periods and under the respective structural conditions and contextual opportunities, had influence on the behavior of these economies, in the production stage, and subsequently, in the economic development of both States.