Brazil constitutes a globally vital but troubled economy. It accounts for the largest GDP in Lati... more Brazil constitutes a globally vital but troubled economy. It accounts for the largest GDP in Latin America and ranks among the world’s largest exporters of critical commodities including iron ore, soya, coffee, and beef. In recent years Brazil’s global economic importance has been magnified by a surge in both outward and inward foreign direct investment. This has served to further internationalize what has been historically a relatively closed economy. The purpose of this Handbook is to offer real insight into the Brazil’s economic development in contemporary context, understanding its most salient characteristics and analyzing its structural features across various dimensions. At a more granular level, this volume accomplishes the following tasks. First, it provides an understanding of the economy’s evolution over time and the connection of its current characteristics to this evolution. Second, it analyzes Brazil’s broader place in the global economy, and considers the ways in whic...
Over the last decade, Brazil presented reasonable economic growth and improvements in its income ... more Over the last decade, Brazil presented reasonable economic growth and improvements in its income distribution, but it is still far from having a satisfactory distribution of income. This paper analyses the recent decline in income inequality, by constructing interregional Social Accounting Matrices for the years 2004 and 2009. Five types of changes are analyzed: in the productive structure, in the household consumption patterns, in the distribution of added value by productive activities, in the final demand and in the cash transferences of the Bolsa Família program. The increase in demand for skilled workers and their wages, and the expansion of the Bolsa Família program are the main sources of the decline in inequality in the period; although also relevant, the changes in household consumption patterns, in the productive structure and in final demand presented marginal impact on income inequality. Key-words: Social Accounting Matrix, Income Inequality, Gini Index, Fixed Price Mult...
the impacts of agricultural policy and structural reforms on income distribution and poverty in B... more the impacts of agricultural policy and structural reforms on income distribution and poverty in Brazil •
Food expenditures, mainly in low-income families, have a substantial weight in the household budg... more Food expenditures, mainly in low-income families, have a substantial weight in the household budget, deserving special attention. The estimation of the Engel curves, relating the share of food in total household expenditure to income levels, is relevant for public policy design, both for poverty reduction (e.g. cash-transfer programs) and to agribusiness decisions, (e.g. definition of retail prices of food). In this paper we apply parametric and non-parametric methods to pseudo-panel data from four Brazilian household expenditure surveys, for six product groups (food, housing, transportation, education, health and clothing). The use of panel data allows to control for unobserved characteristics. In addition, nonparametric methods allow to verify if the function is adequately specified according to the nature of the data and its functional form. We estimate alternative models, including fixed effects and non-parametric panel data estimators. The results for the mean values of non-par...
Parece nao haver duvidas de que o Programa Bolsa Familia (PBF) contribuiu de forma significativa ... more Parece nao haver duvidas de que o Programa Bolsa Familia (PBF) contribuiu de forma significativa para a reducao da desigualdade de renda entre os brasileiros na ultima decada (SERGUEI, 2012). Produto de uma oportuna relacao entre a natureza do Programa e a natureza das disparidades regionais de renda no Brasil, ha uma importante dimensao espacial nos impactos distributivos do Bolsa Familia muito menos explorada na literatura sobre o PBF. (?)
The paper discusses the methodology applied for consolidating three different sources of per capi... more The paper discusses the methodology applied for consolidating three different sources of per capita income for Brazilian states in the period 1939-1995 and presents the consolidated series. Based on these numbers an analysis is made of the trends in per capita income dispersion and its movements over time. Some statistical associations were made between the speed of economic growth and the resulting level of regional inequality. The results based in these long series indicate that periods of deconcentration are alternated with periods of concentration, indicating that analyses based on short term series can be misleading. This is specially true for the period 19701985 for which much of convergence studies have been made: deconcentration was very strong in this period but more recent data indicate that concentration followed later on. Statistical associations between growth of national GDP and deconcentration indicate that periods of fast growth tend to end with higher regional inequ...
This paper aims at assessing the impacts of international integration on the export flows of Braz... more This paper aims at assessing the impacts of international integration on the export flows of Brazilian states. We use a gravity model with dummy variables for the main partner blocs and for each pair Brazilian region-partner country, to account for the specificities of particular trade relations. Variables capturing regional openness and competitiveness are also included. We estimate a pooled cross-section model, with data for 24 countries, 27 states, and 4 years. After controlling for size and distance, trade with Mercosur and the EU is more intense than with the rest of the world. Brazilian states that account for larger shares of total interregional trade tend to trade less internationally, while the opposite holds for those that are more competitive. There are important specific factors between Brazilian regions and partner countries, as in the case of Mercosur. The results also indicate that sectoral specificities play a role in explaining state's exports, as in the case of...
We decompose the recent changes in regional inequality in Brazil into its components, highlightin... more We decompose the recent changes in regional inequality in Brazil into its components, highlighting the role of spatially blind social programs. We aggregate personal income micro data to the state level, differentiating 9 income sources, and assess the role of these components in the observed changes in regional inequality indicators. The main results indicate that the largest part of the recent reduction in regional inequality in Brazil is related to the dynamics in the market-related labor income, with manufacturing and services favoring inequality reduction. Labor income in agriculture, retirement and pensions, and property rents and other sources favored concentration. The social programs Bolsa Família and Benefícios de Prestação Continuada are responsible for more than 24 % of the reduction in inequality, although they account for less than 1.7 % of the disposable household income. Such positive impact on regional concentration is impressive, since the goals of the programs are...
This chapter analyzes the emergence of disparities in income and development levels between Brazi... more This chapter analyzes the emergence of disparities in income and development levels between Brazil’s main regions, in particular the gap that exists between the comparatively rich South and Southeast and the poorer North and West regions. Economic activity and the population are concentrated in a small part of the territory. Even within this reduced area, the geographical distribution is highly uneven. Besides concentration, regional inequalities are marked in the country in terms of per capita income, education, access to public services, and so on. This scenario of concentration and inequality is quite persistent, as the data available indicate. We conclude with a discussion of regional policy, both intended and unintended. The present levels of inequality shows the failure of the traditional place-based regional policies implemented in the past. The people-based policies implemented in recent decades have been the most effective way of reducing regional inequality.
Sugarcane production represents around 10% of the agricultural area and 1% of GDP in Brazil, and ... more Sugarcane production represents around 10% of the agricultural area and 1% of GDP in Brazil, and has grown substantially in recent years. The traditional harvest method involves burning the field to facilitate access to the canes, resulting in well-documented negative effects on health. The existing studies do not consider the effects on health in the surrounding areas. This article presents a new variety of a spatial diff-in-diff model to control for the effects of sugarcane production in neighboring non-producing regions. This method is an addition to the Spatial Econometrics literature, as it includes spatial effects on treated and untreated regions, so that the effects on both producing and surrounding non-producing regions can be properly estimated. The results indicate that the effects on the producing regions are 78% larger than if the effects on the surrounding areas were ignored. Moreover, the effects on the surrounding areas, typically ignored in other studies, are relevant, and almost as large as the effects on the producing areas.
The contribution of Professor Werner Baer to Economics in Brazil is enormous. His contribution wa... more The contribution of Professor Werner Baer to Economics in Brazil is enormous. His contribution was, and of course still is, multidimensional, and it is very difficult to tell which aspect is the most important. His influence in the shaping up of graduate studies in the country is recognized by all the Brazilian pioneers. He was instrumental in developing institutions, organizing courses, identifying young professors to be trained abroad, arranging scholarships for them in the U.S., and helping them to be accepted in American universities, introducing academic standards in the selection of graduate students in the country, forming an association of graduate programs, etc. His permanent residence in Brazil in the fledgling years of the organization of the Brazilian graduate programs in Economics was very important. Not only did he teach courses but he also advised students, invited visiting professors, and managed to lead the newborn system to safe grounds.
Resumo Neste trabalho estimamos os níveis de custo de vida de 11 regiões metropolitanas brasileir... more Resumo Neste trabalho estimamos os níveis de custo de vida de 11 regiões metropolitanas brasileiras no período 1996-2014. Aplicamos o método Country Product Dummy (CPD) a dados das pesquisas de orçamentos familiares de 1996, 2003 e 2009. Interpolamos os pesos orçamentários para os anos intermediários e usamos dados de índices de preços regionais para interpolar e atualizar os preços. Os resultados indicam que os maiores custos de vida estão em Brasília, São Paulo e Rio de Janeiro, sendo que Goiânia apresentou o maior crescimento relativo no período.
Brazil constitutes a globally vital but troubled economy. It accounts for the largest GDP in Lati... more Brazil constitutes a globally vital but troubled economy. It accounts for the largest GDP in Latin America and ranks among the world’s largest exporters of critical commodities including iron ore, soya, coffee, and beef. In recent years Brazil’s global economic importance has been magnified by a surge in both outward and inward foreign direct investment. This has served to further internationalize what has been historically a relatively closed economy. The purpose of this Handbook is to offer real insight into the Brazil’s economic development in contemporary context, understanding its most salient characteristics and analyzing its structural features across various dimensions. At a more granular level, this volume accomplishes the following tasks. First, it provides an understanding of the economy’s evolution over time and the connection of its current characteristics to this evolution. Second, it analyzes Brazil’s broader place in the global economy, and considers the ways in whic...
Over the last decade, Brazil presented reasonable economic growth and improvements in its income ... more Over the last decade, Brazil presented reasonable economic growth and improvements in its income distribution, but it is still far from having a satisfactory distribution of income. This paper analyses the recent decline in income inequality, by constructing interregional Social Accounting Matrices for the years 2004 and 2009. Five types of changes are analyzed: in the productive structure, in the household consumption patterns, in the distribution of added value by productive activities, in the final demand and in the cash transferences of the Bolsa Família program. The increase in demand for skilled workers and their wages, and the expansion of the Bolsa Família program are the main sources of the decline in inequality in the period; although also relevant, the changes in household consumption patterns, in the productive structure and in final demand presented marginal impact on income inequality. Key-words: Social Accounting Matrix, Income Inequality, Gini Index, Fixed Price Mult...
the impacts of agricultural policy and structural reforms on income distribution and poverty in B... more the impacts of agricultural policy and structural reforms on income distribution and poverty in Brazil •
Food expenditures, mainly in low-income families, have a substantial weight in the household budg... more Food expenditures, mainly in low-income families, have a substantial weight in the household budget, deserving special attention. The estimation of the Engel curves, relating the share of food in total household expenditure to income levels, is relevant for public policy design, both for poverty reduction (e.g. cash-transfer programs) and to agribusiness decisions, (e.g. definition of retail prices of food). In this paper we apply parametric and non-parametric methods to pseudo-panel data from four Brazilian household expenditure surveys, for six product groups (food, housing, transportation, education, health and clothing). The use of panel data allows to control for unobserved characteristics. In addition, nonparametric methods allow to verify if the function is adequately specified according to the nature of the data and its functional form. We estimate alternative models, including fixed effects and non-parametric panel data estimators. The results for the mean values of non-par...
Parece nao haver duvidas de que o Programa Bolsa Familia (PBF) contribuiu de forma significativa ... more Parece nao haver duvidas de que o Programa Bolsa Familia (PBF) contribuiu de forma significativa para a reducao da desigualdade de renda entre os brasileiros na ultima decada (SERGUEI, 2012). Produto de uma oportuna relacao entre a natureza do Programa e a natureza das disparidades regionais de renda no Brasil, ha uma importante dimensao espacial nos impactos distributivos do Bolsa Familia muito menos explorada na literatura sobre o PBF. (?)
The paper discusses the methodology applied for consolidating three different sources of per capi... more The paper discusses the methodology applied for consolidating three different sources of per capita income for Brazilian states in the period 1939-1995 and presents the consolidated series. Based on these numbers an analysis is made of the trends in per capita income dispersion and its movements over time. Some statistical associations were made between the speed of economic growth and the resulting level of regional inequality. The results based in these long series indicate that periods of deconcentration are alternated with periods of concentration, indicating that analyses based on short term series can be misleading. This is specially true for the period 19701985 for which much of convergence studies have been made: deconcentration was very strong in this period but more recent data indicate that concentration followed later on. Statistical associations between growth of national GDP and deconcentration indicate that periods of fast growth tend to end with higher regional inequ...
This paper aims at assessing the impacts of international integration on the export flows of Braz... more This paper aims at assessing the impacts of international integration on the export flows of Brazilian states. We use a gravity model with dummy variables for the main partner blocs and for each pair Brazilian region-partner country, to account for the specificities of particular trade relations. Variables capturing regional openness and competitiveness are also included. We estimate a pooled cross-section model, with data for 24 countries, 27 states, and 4 years. After controlling for size and distance, trade with Mercosur and the EU is more intense than with the rest of the world. Brazilian states that account for larger shares of total interregional trade tend to trade less internationally, while the opposite holds for those that are more competitive. There are important specific factors between Brazilian regions and partner countries, as in the case of Mercosur. The results also indicate that sectoral specificities play a role in explaining state's exports, as in the case of...
We decompose the recent changes in regional inequality in Brazil into its components, highlightin... more We decompose the recent changes in regional inequality in Brazil into its components, highlighting the role of spatially blind social programs. We aggregate personal income micro data to the state level, differentiating 9 income sources, and assess the role of these components in the observed changes in regional inequality indicators. The main results indicate that the largest part of the recent reduction in regional inequality in Brazil is related to the dynamics in the market-related labor income, with manufacturing and services favoring inequality reduction. Labor income in agriculture, retirement and pensions, and property rents and other sources favored concentration. The social programs Bolsa Família and Benefícios de Prestação Continuada are responsible for more than 24 % of the reduction in inequality, although they account for less than 1.7 % of the disposable household income. Such positive impact on regional concentration is impressive, since the goals of the programs are...
This chapter analyzes the emergence of disparities in income and development levels between Brazi... more This chapter analyzes the emergence of disparities in income and development levels between Brazil’s main regions, in particular the gap that exists between the comparatively rich South and Southeast and the poorer North and West regions. Economic activity and the population are concentrated in a small part of the territory. Even within this reduced area, the geographical distribution is highly uneven. Besides concentration, regional inequalities are marked in the country in terms of per capita income, education, access to public services, and so on. This scenario of concentration and inequality is quite persistent, as the data available indicate. We conclude with a discussion of regional policy, both intended and unintended. The present levels of inequality shows the failure of the traditional place-based regional policies implemented in the past. The people-based policies implemented in recent decades have been the most effective way of reducing regional inequality.
Sugarcane production represents around 10% of the agricultural area and 1% of GDP in Brazil, and ... more Sugarcane production represents around 10% of the agricultural area and 1% of GDP in Brazil, and has grown substantially in recent years. The traditional harvest method involves burning the field to facilitate access to the canes, resulting in well-documented negative effects on health. The existing studies do not consider the effects on health in the surrounding areas. This article presents a new variety of a spatial diff-in-diff model to control for the effects of sugarcane production in neighboring non-producing regions. This method is an addition to the Spatial Econometrics literature, as it includes spatial effects on treated and untreated regions, so that the effects on both producing and surrounding non-producing regions can be properly estimated. The results indicate that the effects on the producing regions are 78% larger than if the effects on the surrounding areas were ignored. Moreover, the effects on the surrounding areas, typically ignored in other studies, are relevant, and almost as large as the effects on the producing areas.
The contribution of Professor Werner Baer to Economics in Brazil is enormous. His contribution wa... more The contribution of Professor Werner Baer to Economics in Brazil is enormous. His contribution was, and of course still is, multidimensional, and it is very difficult to tell which aspect is the most important. His influence in the shaping up of graduate studies in the country is recognized by all the Brazilian pioneers. He was instrumental in developing institutions, organizing courses, identifying young professors to be trained abroad, arranging scholarships for them in the U.S., and helping them to be accepted in American universities, introducing academic standards in the selection of graduate students in the country, forming an association of graduate programs, etc. His permanent residence in Brazil in the fledgling years of the organization of the Brazilian graduate programs in Economics was very important. Not only did he teach courses but he also advised students, invited visiting professors, and managed to lead the newborn system to safe grounds.
Resumo Neste trabalho estimamos os níveis de custo de vida de 11 regiões metropolitanas brasileir... more Resumo Neste trabalho estimamos os níveis de custo de vida de 11 regiões metropolitanas brasileiras no período 1996-2014. Aplicamos o método Country Product Dummy (CPD) a dados das pesquisas de orçamentos familiares de 1996, 2003 e 2009. Interpolamos os pesos orçamentários para os anos intermediários e usamos dados de índices de preços regionais para interpolar e atualizar os preços. Os resultados indicam que os maiores custos de vida estão em Brasília, São Paulo e Rio de Janeiro, sendo que Goiânia apresentou o maior crescimento relativo no período.
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