A generalization of judds method of out-steady-state comparisons in perfect foresight models

We show that Judd (1982)’s method can be applied to any finite system, contrary to what he claimed in 1987. An example shows how to employ the technic to study monetary models in presence of capital accumulation.

Multiple structural change models:a simulation analysis

In a reccnt paper. Bai and Perron (1998) considcrccl theoretical issues relatec\ lo lhe limiting distriblltion of estimators and test. statist.ics in the linear model \\'ith multiplc struct ural changes. \Ve assess. via simulations, the adequacy of the \'arious I1Iethods suggested. These CO\'er the size and power of tests for structural changes. the cO\'erage rates of the confidence Íntervals for the break dates and the relat.Í\'e merits of methods to select the I1umber of breaks. The \'arious data generating processes considered alIo,,' for general conditions OIl the data and the errors including differellces across segmcll(s. Yarious practical recommendations are made.

Heranças patrimonialistas, (dis)funções burocráticas, práticas gerenciais e os novos arranjos do estado em rede: entendendo a configuração atual da administração pública brasileira

O objetivo do trabalho é compreender a configuração atual da administração pública brasileira a partir da identificação dos seus atributos caracterizadores, tomando como ponto de partida a rejeição da ideia de modelos rígidos e de ruptura entre esses modelos. Os caminhos teóricos percorridos, e que culminaram com a construção de um quadro teórico preliminar, contemplaram inicialmente: a análise histórico-conceitual das relações entre sociedade, Estado e administração pública; a análise da formação do Estado brasileiro desde o período colonial até os dias atuais; a apresentação das configurações da administração pública brasileira, consagradas pela literatura e seus respectivos atributos. Em seguida, foram resgatadas as bases teóricas da administração pública patrimonial, desde a ideia weberiana de dominação patrimonial até as contribuições de alguns interpretes do pensamento social brasileiro à luz da experiência nacional. Foram apresentadas as bases teóricas da administração pública burocrática, desde o tipo ideal weberiano de dominação racional-legal até a releitura do seu processo de implementação e desenvolvimento no Brasil. Também foram expostas as bases teóricas da administração pública gerencial, desde sua origem a nível mundial até os efeitos de seu marco inaugural no Brasil, o Plano Diretor da Reforma do Aparelho do Estado. A pesquisa, predominantemente qualitativa, assumiu três tipologias: bibliográfica, documental e de campo, permitindo o emprego da triangulação. A pesquisa de campo processou-se por meio de nove entrevistas, com roteiro semi-estruturado, com experts em administração pública brasileira. Para a pesquisa documental, foram selecionadas, primordialmente fontes primárias, com ênfase em documentos oficiais, mas também matérias e reportagens em sites, jornais e revistas. Após a análise do conteúdo das entrevistas e dos documentos, chegou-se a quatro eixos temáticos, cada qual com suas respectivas unidades de significado, que permitiram identificar os atributos presentes na administração pública brasileira e definir sua configuração, são eles: a) heranças patrimonialistas, sendo elas o mandonismo (a personalização do poder), o clientelismo, o favoritismo e a cultura da corrupção; b) (dis)funções burocráticas, sendo elas o formalismo, a hierarquia de cargos e funções, a profissionalização do quadro administrativo e a (im)pessoalidade); c) práticas gerenciais, sendo elas a busca da efetividade, as técnicas do management, a governança e a gestão transparente e participativa; e d) novos arranjos do Estado em rede, sendo elas o Estado Global, a cultura da virtualidade, a lógica das redes e o governo eletrônico. Esses eixos permitiram a construção de um quadro final de interpretações que demonstra a presença de atributos patrimonialistas, burocráticos e gerenciais na administração pública brasileira, e também atributos do que se chama de administração pública em rede, principal achado da pesquisa, o que explica a sua configuração múltipla.

Evaluating the existence of structural change in the brazilian term structure of interest: evidence based on cointegration models with structural break

This paper investigates whether there is evidence of structural change in the Brazilian term structure of interest rates. Multivariate cointegration techniques are used to verify this evidence. Two econometrics models are estimated. The rst one is a Vector Autoregressive Model with Error Correction Mechanism (VECM) with smooth transition in the deterministic coe¢ cients (Ripatti and Saikkonen [25]). The second one is a VECM with abrupt structural change formulated by Hansen [13]. Two datasets were analysed. The rst one contains a nominal interest rate with maturity up to three years. The second data set focuses on maturity up to one year. The rst data set focuses on a sample period from 1995 to 2010 and the second from 1998 to 2010. The frequency is monthly. The estimated models suggest the existence of structural change in the Brazilian term structure. It was possible to document the existence of multiple regimes using both techniques for both databases. The risk premium for di¤erent spreads varied considerably during the earliest period of both samples and seemed to converge to stable and lower values at the end of the sample period. Long-term risk premiums seemed to converge to inter-national standards, although the Brazilian term structure is still subject to liquidity problems for longer maturities.

Non-durable consumption and real-estate prices in Brazil: panel-data analysis at the state level

Housing is an important component of wealth for a typical household in many countries. The objective of this paper is to investigate the effect of real-estate price variation on welfare, trying to close a gap between the welfare literature in Brazil and that in the U.S., the U.K., and other developed countries. Our first motivation relates to the fact that real estate is probably more important here than elsewhere as a proportion of wealth, which potentially makes the impact of a price change bigger here. Our second motivation relates to the fact that real-estate prices boomed in Brazil in the last five years. Prime real estate in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo have tripled in value in that period, and a smaller but generalized increase has been observed throughout the country. Third, we have also seen a recent consumption boom in Brazil in the last five years. Indeed, the recent rise of some of the poor to middle-income status is well documented not only for Brazil but for other emerging countries as well. Regarding consumption and real-estate prices in Brazil, one cannot imply causality from correlation, but one can do causal inference with an appropriate structural model and proper inference, or with a proper inference in a reduced-form setup. Our last motivation is related to the complete absence of studies of this kind in Brazil, which makes ours a pioneering study. We assemble a panel-data set for the determinants of non-durable consumption growth by Brazilian states, merging the techniques and ideas in Campbell and Cocco (2007) and in Case, Quigley and Shiller (2005). With appropriate controls, and panel-data methods, we investigate whether house-price variation has a positive effect on non-durable consumption. The results show a non-negligible significant impact of the change in the price of real estate on welfare consumption), although smaller then what Campbell and Cocco have found. Our findings support the view that the channel through which house prices affect consumption is a financial one.

Estimating Brazilian Monthly GDP: a State-Space Approach

This paper has several original contributions. The first is to employ a superior interpolation method that enables to estimate, nowcast and forecast monthly Brazilian GDP for 1980-2012 in an integrated way; see Bernanke, Gertler and Watson (1997, Brookings Papers on Economic Activity). Second, along the spirit of Mariano and Murasawa (2003, Journal of Applied Econometrics), we propose and test a myriad of interpolation models and interpolation auxiliary series- all coincident with GDP from a business-cycle dating point of view. Based on these results, we finally choose the most appropriate monthly indicator for Brazilian GDP. Third, this monthly GDP estimate is compared to an economic activity indicator widely used by practitioners in Brazil - the Brazilian Economic Activity Index - (IBC-Br). We found that the our monthly GDP tracks economic activity better than IBC-Br. This happens by construction, since our state-space approach imposes the restriction (discipline) that our monthly estimate must add up to the quarterly observed series in any given quarter, which may not hold regarding IBC-Br. Moreover, our method has the advantage to be easily implemented: it only requires conditioning on two observed series for estimation, while estimating IBC-Br requires the availability of hundreds of monthly series. Third, in a nowcasting and forecasting exercise, we illustrate the advantages of our integrated approach. Finally, we compare the chronology of recessions of our monthly estimate with those done elsewhere.

Análise das disfunções da organização burocrática e suas implicações para a Qualidade de Vida no Trabalho (QVT): o caso de uma unidade de segurança pública, em Mato Grosso do Sul, Brasil

O objetivo geral deste estudo consistiu em identificar as dimensões da burocracia e relacioná-las aos elementos de disfunção burocrática existentes em uma unidade da administração pública estadual, no âmbito da Criminalística, que influenciam a Qualidade de Vida no Trabalho (QVT), considerando as abordagens humanista e restritiva, no contexto da Coordenadoria Geral de Perícias (CGP), a partir da percepção dos servidores lotados nesta unidade da Segurança Pública. Utilizou-se a pesquisa descritiva por meio de uma abordagem qualitativa de estudo de caso, com amostra constituída por peritos criminais do Instituto de Criminalística "Hercílio Macellaro" (ICHM), lotados na Capital do Estado, Campo Grande - MS. O método de coleta de dados adotado para a constatação das disfunções burocráticas foi um questionário com assertivas fechadas de alternativas de múltipla escolha, cujo modelo de resposta compõe-se por quatro níveis de gradação (sempre, muitas vezes, poucas vezes, nunca), elaborado a partir do modelo de Maia e Pinto (2007). Em outro momento, foi aplicado o questionário apresentando questões que abordavam os elementos da QVT propostos por Werther e Davis (1983), adaptado para o presente estudo. Para este questionário, as questões foram apresentadas em escala polarizada de satisfação do tipo Likert, composta por cinco alternativas (discordo totalmente, discordo parcialmente, não concordo nem discordo, concordo parcialmente e concordo totalmente), caracterizando a opinião do participante. A interpretação dos dados permitiu analisar a existência de quatro elementos de disfunção burocrática: internalização das regras, excesso de formalismo, rotinas e registros, resistência às mudanças e exibição de sinais de autoridade. De uma lado, a abordagem humanista foi possível analisar que os respondentes da pesquisa evidenciam ruídos na comunicação, tanto vertical quanto horizontal, o que indica a necessidade de mais transparência e clareza possível dentro e entre as equipes nos departamentos e destes com os superiores hierárquicos, a fim de proporcionar maior entendimento entre todos os envolvidos e a eliminação de conflitos que possam ocorrer através de informações distorcidas. Por outro lado, a análise da abordagem restritiva sobre a QVT neste estudo permitiu observar a predominância da racionalidade instrumental no contexto organizacional do ICHM, uma vez que está voltada somente para atender a seus processos organizacionais fundamentados no binômio técnica versus produção. Pode-se, assim, considerar que o ICHM está fortemente ligado ao modelo de organização burocrática, exteriorizado por quatro níveis de disfunções burocráticas. Além disso, como pretexto pela busca da eficiência, eficácia e efetividade, a práxis organizacional do ICHM parece convergir para dois modelos de produção: fordista e taylorista, as quais reforçam a corrente restritiva da QVT, que parece confirmar a manutenção da coisificação do sujeito em relação ao objeto, isto é, quando se pensava que o ser orgânico pudesse desfrutar do desenvolvimento tecnológico alcançado em várias ciências, paradoxalmente, o que tem sido visto é o trabalho como um fim em si mesmo.

Time-dependent or state-dependent pricing? : evidence from a large currency devaluation episode

Duas classes de modelos buscam explicar o padrão de ajustamento de preço das firmas: modelos tempo-dependente e estado-dependente. O objetivo deste trabalho é levantar algumas evidencias empíricas de modo a distinguir os modelos, ou seja, identificar de que maneira as firmas realmente precificam. Para isso, escolheu-se a grande desvalorização cambial de 1999 como principal ferramenta e ambiente de análise. A hipótese fundamental é que o choque cambial impacta significativamente o custo de algumas indústrias, em alguns casos induzindo-as a alterarem seus preço após o choque. A partir de uma imensa base de micro dados formada por preços que compõem o CPI, algumas estimações importantes como a probabilidade e a magnitude média das trocas foram levantadas. A magnitude é dada por uma média simples, enquanto a probabilidade é estimada pelo método da máxima verossimilhança. Os resultados indicam um comportamento de precificação similar ao proposto por modelos estado-dependente.

Estimating brazilian monthly GDP: a state-space approach

This paper has several original contributions. The rst is to employ a superior interpolation method that enables to estimate, nowcast and forecast monthly Brazilian GDP for 1980-2012 in an integrated way; see Bernanke, Gertler and Watson (1997, Brookings Papers on Economic Activity). Second, along the spirit of Mariano and Murasawa (2003, Journal of Applied Econometrics), we propose and test a myriad of interpolation models and interpolation auxiliary series all coincident with GDP from a business-cycle dating point of view. Based on these results, we nally choose the most appropriate monthly indicator for Brazilian GDP. Third, this monthly GDP estimate is compared to an economic activity indicator widely used by practitioners in Brazil - the Brazilian Economic Activity Index - (IBC-Br). We found that the our monthly GDP tracks economic activity better than IBC-Br. This happens by construction, since our state-space approach imposes the restriction (discipline) that our monthly estimate must add up to the quarterly observed series in any given quarter, which may not hold regarding IBC-Br. Moreover, our method has the advantage to be easily implemented: it only requires conditioning on two observed series for estimation, while estimating IBC-Br requires the availability of hundreds of monthly series. Third, in a nowcasting and forecasting exercise, we illustrate the advantages of our integrated approach. Finally, we compare the chronology of recessions of our monthly estimate with those done elsewhere.

Tree-structured smooth transition models

The goal of this paper is to introduce a class of tree-structured models that combines aspects of regression trees and smooth transition regression models. The model is called the Smooth Transition Regression Tree (STR-Tree). The main idea relies on specifying a multiple-regime parametric model through a tree-growing procedure with smooth transitions among different regimes. Decisions about splits are entirely based on a sequence of Lagrange Multiplier (LM) tests of hypotheses.

Factors affecting the technical efficiency of production of the Brazilian banking system : a comparison of four statistical models in the context of data envelopment analysis

This paper uses an output oriented Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) measure of technical efficiency to assess the technical efficiencies of the Brazilian banking system. Four approaches to estimation are compared in order to assess the significance of factors affecting inefficiency. These are nonparametric Analysis of Covariance, maximum likelihood using a family of exponential distributions, maximum likelihood using a family of truncated normal distributions, and the normal Tobit model. The sole focus of the paper is on a combined measure of output and the data analyzed refers to the year 2001. The factors of interest in the analysis and likely to affect efficiency are bank nature (multiple and commercial), bank type (credit, business, bursary and retail), bank size (large, medium, small and micro), bank control (private and public), bank origin (domestic and foreign), and non-performing loans. The latter is a measure of bank risk. All quantitative variables, including non-performing loans, are measured on a per employee basis. The best fits to the data are provided by the exponential family and the nonparametric Analysis of Covariance. The significance of a factor however varies according to the model fit although it can be said that there is some agreements between the best models. A highly significant association in all models fitted is observed only for nonperforming loans. The nonparametric Analysis of Covariance is more consistent with the inefficiency median responses observed for the qualitative factors. The findings of the analysis reinforce the significant association of the level of bank inefficiency, measured by DEA residuals, with the risk of bank failure.

Time-dependent or state-dependent pricing? Evidence from a large devaluation episode

State-dependent and time-dependent price setting models yield distinct implications for how frequency and magnitude of price changes react to shocks. This note studies pricing behavior in Brazil following the large devaluation of the Brazilian Real in 1999 to distinguish between models. The results are consistent with state-dependent pricing

Time-dependent or state-dependent pricing? Evidence from firms’ response to inflation shocks

This paper proposes a test for distinguishing between time-dependent and state-dependent pricing based on whether the timing of pricing changes is affected by realized or expeted inflation. Using Brazilian data and exploring a large discrepancy between realized and expected inflation in 2002-3, we obtain a strong relation between expected inflation and duration of price spells, but little effect of inflation shocks on the frequency of price adjustment. The results thus support models with timedependent pricing, where the timing for following changes is optimally chosen whenever firms adjust prices

Estimating Brazilian monthly GDP: a state-space approach

This paper has several original contributions. The rst is to employ a superior interpolation method that enables to estimate, nowcast and forecast monthly Brazilian GDP for 1980-2012 in an integrated way; see Bernanke, Gertler and Watson (1997, Brookings Papers on Economic Activity). Second, along the spirit of Mariano and Murasawa (2003, Journal of Applied Econometrics), we propose and test a myriad of interpolation models and interpolation auxiliary series all coincident with GDP from a business-cycle dating point of view. Based on these results, we nally choose the most appropriate monthly indicator for Brazilian GDP. Third, this monthly GDP estimate is compared to an economic activity indicator widely used by practitioners in Brazil- the Brazilian Economic Activity Index - (IBC-Br). We found that the our monthly GDP tracks economic activity better than IBC-Br. This happens by construction, since our state-space approach imposes the restriction (discipline) that our monthly estimate must add up to the quarterly observed series in any given quarter, whichmay not hold regarding IBC-Br. Moreover, our method has the advantage to be easily implemented: it only requires conditioning on two observed series for estimation, while estimating IBC-Br requires the availability of hundreds of monthly series. Third, in a nowcasting and forecasting exercise, we illustrate the advantages of our integrated approach. Finally, we compare the chronology of recessions of our monthly estimate with those done elsewhere.

Estimating Brazilian monthly GDP: a state-space approach

The first contribution of this paper is to employ a superior interpolation method that enables to estimate, nowcast and forecast monthly Brazilian GDP for 1980-2012 in an integrated way; see Bernanke, Gertler and Watson (1997, Brookings Papers on Economic Activity). The second contribution, along the spirit of Mariano and Murasawa (2003, Journal of Applied Econometrics), is to propose and test a myriad of inter-polation models and interpolation auxiliary series all coincident with GDP from a business-cycle dating point of view. Based on these results, we finally choose the most appropriate monthly indicator for Brazilian GDP. Third, this monthly GDP estimate is compared to an economic activity indicator widely used by practitioners in Brazil - the Brazilian Economic Activity Index - (IBC-Br). We found that our monthly GDP tracks economic activity better than IBC-Br. This happens by construction, since our state-space approach imposes the restriction (discipline) that our monthly estimate must add up to the quarterly observed series in any given quarter, which may not hold regarding IBC-Br. Moreover, our method has the advantage to be easily implemented: it only requires conditioning on two observed series for estimation, while estimating IBC-Br requires the availability of hundreds of monthly series. The third contribution is to illustrate, in a nowcasting and forecasting exercise, the advantages of our integrated approach. Finally, we compare the chronology of recessions of our monthly estimate with those done elsewhere.