Availability of processed foods in the perimeter of public schools in urban areas

Objective: To assess the availability of food in relation to their degree of industrial processing and the types of food stores in the perimeters of elementary schools. Method: This is a cross-sectional study. 82 food stores located within a 500 m radius buffer of three public schools located in three distinct regions with different socioeconomic levels in the municipality of Santos, state of Sao Paulo, Brazil, were assessed. All streets within a 500-meter radius of the schools were covered, geographic coordinates were recorded and information about the stores and food items available were collected by direct observation and interview with store managers. Available food items were classified in relation to their degree of industrial processing as ultra-processed foods and minimally processed foods. Kernel's density maps were used to assess the degree of agglomeration of stores near the schools. Results: The stores that offered mostly ultra-processed foods were significantly closer to schools than those who offered mostly minimally processed foods. There was a significant difference between the availability of processed food in different types of stores and between the three regions assessed. Conclusions: The data found by this work evidences that children who attend the three public schools assessed are exposed to an environment that encourages the consumption of ultra-processed foods through easier access of these products in the studied stores.

The impact of structured teaching methods on the quality of education in Brazil

This paper estimates the impact of the use of structured methods on the quality of education for students in primary public school in Brazil. Structured methods encompass a range of pedagogical and managerial instruments applied in the educational system. In recent years, several municipalities in the state of Sao Paulo have contracted out private educational providers to implement these structured methods in their schooling systems. Their pedagogical proposal involves structuring of curriculum content, development of teacher and student textbooks, and the training and supervision of teachers anti instructors. Using a difference-in-differences estimation strategy, we find that the 4th- and 8th-grade students in the municipalities with structured methods performed better in Portuguese and mathematics than did students in municipalities not exposed to these methods. We find no differences in passing rates. A robustness test supports the assumption that there is no unobserved municipal characteristics associated with proficiency changes over time that may affect the results. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Qualidade do gasto público municipal em ensino fundamental no Brasil

Quality of municipal public spending on primary education in Brazil. The focus of this paper was to analyze the relationship between municipal public education spending and students' academic achievement, evaluated according to IDEB (Index of Basic Education Development) of 2005. The following databases were used: School Census 2005, Brazil Exam (mathematics evaluation applied to students from fourth grade of elementary school) and Finance of Brazil (FINBRA). A multilevel model was estimated and the results suggest that simply increasing the percentage of municipal expenditures on education or the percentage of spending on primary education in relation to municipal expenditures on education do not automatically guarantee improvements in the quality of education.

A retomada do debate do cálculo econômico socialista: economia da informação, escolha pública e a crítica austríaca

Este artigo analisa a moderna retomada do debate do cálculo econômico socialista. Mostramos como as modificações no cinturão protetor do programa de pesquisa neoclássico possibilitaram a discussão do problema dos incentivos sob informação assimétrica nas novas propostas de socialismo de mercado. Nessas propostas, o problema do conhecimento tal como desenvolvido por Hayek no debate original será interpretado como um problema de informação. Defendemos a tese de que, embora os modelos tenham sido criticados por economistas afiliados a escola da escolha pública, as novas propostas de socialismo de mercado e seus críticos sofrem dos mesmos problemas apontados por Hayek no debate original.