The Largest Industrial Firms in Rio Claro (SP) in the First Half of the 20th Century (1918-1945)

Abstract

Economic historiography describes the formation of industry in São Paulo as a result of accumulation in the core of the coffee sector and this capital leaking to industrial investments, which often resulted in the formation of small and medium-sized companies led by immigrants. However, in the case of the São Paulo municipality of Rio Claro, there is little data on which were the largest industrial firms in the first half of the 20th century, its workforce and the size of its capital. Supported by primary sources (industrial statistics), the article aims to make a contribution to studies on the industrial formation of São Paulo by analyzing which were the largest industrial firms in Rio de Janeiro in the years 1918, 1931, 1937 and 1945, showing that local industrialization was strongly influenced by the presence of the Cia. Paulista de Estradas de Ferro which was the largest establishment in the municipality according to its number of workers.