As Duas Faces da Petrobras: a Persistência Dinâmica da Empresa Estatal no Arranjo Jurídico Brasileiro

This dissertation will analyze the dynamic performance of Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras – within the Brazilian institutional arrangement. Its objective is to identify if this public owned company’s performance was accompanied by changes in its macro and micro legal structures, which resulted in the adaptation of Petrobras to changes in the relationship between the state and market, promoted by institutional reforms. The main premise of this study establishes that in the recent history of Brazil, four main ideologies influenced legal reforms that altered the relationship between the state and the market within four different periods: (i) from the Era Vargas to the government of President Juscelino Kubitschek; (ii) from the military coup to the redemocratization process; (iii) from the government of President Fernando Collor to the end of President Fernando Henrique Cardoso’s term; and (iv) from the beginning of President Lula’s term until the time this research was conducted. The first chapter explains the direct interventions of the state in the productive sector, their characteristics, and how they affected the relationship of the state with the market during these four periods. The subsequent chapters aim at analyzing Petrobras’ configuration in the micro legal field – corporate organization – and macro legal – link between the public owned company and other public and private agents – in each of the four periods. The second chapter describes Petrobras through a legal viewpoint during its first ten years. The third chapter identifies the legal changes that affected Petrobras during the military regime. The fourth chapter analyzes the legal changes undergone by Petrobras during the State Reform. Finally, the fifth chapter discusses the most recent legal alterations suffered by Petrobras as a consequence of a vast oil reserve discovery, also known as Pré-Sal.