A PRESEN A DO ESTADO NO SETOR FINANCEIRO BRASILEIRO: O CASO DA CAIXA ECON MICA FEDERAL

The financial public enterprises have played an important role in the formation and development of the Brazilian State, becoming an indispensable tool for both its economy and its institutional consolidation. This research analyzes the state's presence in the National Financial System (NFS) from the performance of the Caixa Econ mica Federal (a Brazilian federal bank). The means by witch these agents are organized and developed are not predicted only by their public nature, but by a set of characteristics that result from an institutionalization process. Institutionalism and the foundations of bureaucratic administration are taken as reference for this paper analysis, when we discusses the elements that explain the combination of structural and symbolic components, combined with historical circumstances that have led to the institutionalization process. The methodology used in this paper consists of literature research and qualitative case study. In conclusion we present and describe the process of formation and structure of the NFS and the consolidation of the field of banking organizations in Brazil in three periods: before the banking reform of 1964, after this until the Plano Real (a financial policy), and from that to present date, corresponding to the stages of pre-formation, emerging and expanding, and institutionalized field.