Do borrowing constraints decrease intergenerational mobility? evidence from Brazil

In this paper, we find evidence that suggests that borrowing constraints may be an important determinant of intergenerational mobility in Brazil. This result contrasts sharply with studies for developed countries, such as Canada and the US, where credit constraints do not seem to play an important role in generating persistence of inequality. Moreover, we find that the social mobility is lower in Brazil in comparison with developed countries. We follow the methodology proposed by Grawe (2001), which uses quantile regression, and obtain two results. First, the degree of intergenerational persistence is greater for the upper quantiles. Second, the degree of intergenerational persistence declines with income at least for the upper quantiles. Both findings are compatible with the presence of borrowing constraints affecting the degree of intergenerational persistence, as predicted by the theory.

Implicações de curto e longo prazo das estimativas do estoque e da renda do capital

Este trabalho procura abordar as consequências empíricas e teóricas associadas a possíveis diferenças entre o valor do estoque de capital e o valor do investimento associado a este capital. Com base em evidências empíricas mostra-se que a utilização da acumulação de investimento depreciado como proxy para o estoque de capital no Brasil cria um conjunto de fatos incompatível com modelos dinâmicos que trabalham com crescimento equilibrado ou com função de produção agregadas. Outra questão que o trabalho investiga diz respeito a remuneração do capital no Brasil, o uso das Contas Nacionais sugere que o capital apropria metade da renda dos fatores, valor alto se comparado com valores internacionais. Usando metodologias alternativas é possível encontrar valores compatíveis com os níveis internacionais. Finalmente utiliza-se uma variação do modelo básico de crescimento para avaliar os impactos de curto e longo prazo do desperdício e da renda do capital em uma economia arti…cial calibrada para reproduzir alguns fatos da economia brasileira.

Renda dos Brasileiros melhorou, mas população está cada vez mais insatisfeita com o serviço público do país.

Reportagem exibida pelo Jornal Cultura.

The long-run economic impact of AIDS

This paper studies the long-run impact of HIV / AIDS on per capita income and education. We introduce a channel from HIV / AIDS to long-run income that has been overlooked by the literature, the reduction of the incentives to study due to shorter expected longevity. We work with a continuous time overlapping generations mo deI in which life cycle features of savings and education decision play key roles. The simulations predict that the most affected countries in Sub-Saharan Africa will be in the future, on average, a quarter poorer than they would be without AIDS, due only to the direct (human capital reduction) and indirect (decline in savings and investment) effects of life-expectancy reductions. Schooling will decline on average by half. These findings are well above previous results in the literature and indicate that, as pessimistic as they may be, at least in economic terms the worst could be yet to come.

Wealth composition, endogenous fertility and the dynamics of income inequality

This paper analyzes how differences in the composition of wealth between human and physical capital among families affect fertility choices. These in tum influence the dynamics of wealth and income inequality across generations through a tradeoffbetween quantity and quality of children. Wealth composition affects fertility because physical capital has only a wealth effect on number of children, whereas human capital increases the time cost of child-rearing in addition to the wealth effect. I construct a model combining endogenous fertility with borrowing constraints in human capital investments, in which weaIth composition is determined endogenously. The model is calibrated to the PNAD, a Brazilian household survey, and the main findings of the paper can be summarized as follows. First, the model implies that the crosssection relationship between fertility and wealth typically displays a U-shaped pattem, reflecting differences in wealth composition between poor and rich families. Also, the quantity-quality tradeoff implies a concave cross-section relationship between investments per child and wealth. Second, as the economy develops and families overcome their bOlTowing constraints, the negative effect of weaIth on fertility becomes smaller, and persistence of inequality declines accordingly. The empirical evidence presented in this paper is consistent with both implications .

O Impacto eleitoral de programas de transferência de renda estaduais no Brasil

Esta pesquisa procura estimar o efeito eleitoral de políticas de transferência de renda condicionada estaduais, operadas em conjunto com o Bolsa Família. A pesquisa analisa resultados eleitorais, no nível municipal, das eleições de 2012 e 2014 e utiliza técnicas de matching com o objetivo de reduzir limitações de inferência causal passíveis de ocorrência em estudos observacionais. Os resultados demonstram indicativos de associação entre políticas de transferência de renda estaduais e o desempenho eleitoral do incumbente estadual, bem como com o desempenho de seus aliados no nível municipal. Estes resultados sugerem que políticas de transferência de renda podem gerar efeitos eleitorais não apenas no nível federal, mas também em outras esferas de governo.