Trade liberalization and industrial concentration: evidence from Brazil

This paper applies an endogenous lobby formation model to explain the extent of trade protection granted to Brazilian manufacturing industries during the 1988- 1994 trade liberalization episode. Using a panel data set covering this period, we find that even in an environment in which a major regime shift has been introduced, more concentrated sectors have been able to obtain policy advantages, that lead to a reduction in international competition. The importance of industry structure appears to be substantial: In our baseline specification, an increase in concentration by 20% leads to an increase in protection by 5%-7%.

Regional subsidies and industrial prospects of lagging regions

Large and sustained differences in economic performance across regions of developing countries have long provided motivation for fiscal incentives designed to encourage firm entry in lagging areas. Empirical evidence in support of these policies has, however, been weak at best. This paper undertakes a direct evaluation of the most prominent fiscal incentive policy in Brazil, the Fundos Constitucionais de Financiamento (Constitutional Funds). In doing so, we exploit valuable features of the Brazilian Ministry of Labor's RAIS data set to address two important elements of firm location decisions that have the potential to bias an assessment of the Funds: (i) firm “family structure” (in particular, proximity to headquarters for vertically integrated firms), and (ii) unobserved spatial heterogeneity (with the potential to confound the effects of the Funds). We find that the pull of firm headquarters is very strong relative to the Constitutional Funds for vertically integrated firms, but that, with non-parametric controls for time invariant spatial heterogeneity, the Funds provide statistically and economically significant incentives for firms in many of the targeted industries.

Emprego industrial no pólo industrial de Manaus na década de 90: expectativas, resultados e possibilidades

A década de 90 representou significativas mudanças no panorama político econômico brasileiro, especificamente no projeto de desenvolvimento regional denominado Zona Franca de Manaus. Esse projeto foi concebido, primordialmente para integrar essa imensa região Amazônica ao restante do Brasil, em termos de complexa ordem geopolítica dominante nos anos 60. A análise que objetiva essa dissertação trata da evolução do emprego industrial no Pólo Industrial de Manaus na década de 90, com a conotação de expectativas, resultados e possibilidades. A implementação do projeto Zona Franca de Manaus, no que concerne seu Pólo Industrial permitiu que contingentes de mão-de-obra abundante na capital do Estado do Amazonas, tivesse a oportunidade de inserir-se no mercado de trabalho do processo de industrialização moderna. Todavia, essa mão-de-obra abundante não estava preparada para o que as indústrias demandavam, sendo necessários intensivos programas de adequação profissional para que possibilitasse o aproveitamento em processos produtivos de linhas de montagem. o Pólo Industrial de Manaus, apesar de todas as mudanças havidas na economia brasileira no período analisado, obteve significativos alcance de competências na capacitação desse contingente de trabalhadores que foram absorvidos, quando o paradigma da intensividade do fator trabalho imperava no Pólo. Entretanto, o processo de mudança que a globalização econômica e industrial provocou no sistema de produção global, trouxe para o modelo industrial da Zona Franca de Manaus acelerada mudança desse paradigma, resultando variações na demanda por mão-de-obra e acarretando significativo desemprego estrutural. É desse contexto de mudanças que trata o estudo apresentado, analisando a evolução das variáveis que influenciaram no nível de emprego industrial e no mercado de trabalho, as expectativas de novos perfis e as demandas específicas que o novo paradigma de capital intensivo, adotado pelas empresas de classe mundial desse Pólo exigem.

Ciclos políticos nos municipios brasileiros: interação entre o governo municipal e as demais esferas de governo através das transferências voluntárias

Este trabalho analisa a interação entre o prefeito e as outras esferas do executivo nacional através das transferências voluntárias e as implicações nas contas públicas. É notória a utilização das transferências voluntárias como canal político; há aumento destas receitas tanto nos anos de eleição para prefeito quanto governador e presidente. O impacto das transferências voluntárias é significativo para diferenciar as despesas, investimento e gastos sociais, entre os municípios. Assim, como contrapartida, o governo municipal aumenta os gastos tanto nos anos do fim do mandato quanto no período do meio de mandato. As estimações sugerem que os gastos são estatisticamente maiores nas eleições para presidente e governador do que para o ciclo eleitoral do prefeito. Entretanto, o resultado para as receitas municipais apresenta um comportamento diferente dos gastos. As transferências voluntárias normalmente não explicam as diferenças de arrecadação municipal. Nos anos eleitorais para presidente e governador não há redução da arrecadação dos tributos municipais, o que já ocorre no final do mandato dos prefeitos. As estatísticas mostram que para as despesas há ciclo tanto no meio quanto no final do mandato, no entanto para as receitas há prioridade para as eleições municipais. Utilizamos um painel não balanceado para todos os municípios brasileiros, que havia informação, no período de 1996-2004.

Using common features to understand the behavior of metal-commodity prices and forecast them at different horizons

The objective of this article is to study (understand and forecast) spot metal price levels and changes at monthly, quarterly, and annual horizons. The data to be used consists of metal-commodity prices in a monthly frequency from 1957 to 2012 from the International Financial Statistics of the IMF on individual metal series. We will also employ the (relatively large) list of co-variates used in Welch and Goyal (2008) and in Hong and Yogo (2009) , which are available for download. Regarding short- and long-run comovement, we will apply the techniques and the tests proposed in the common-feature literature to build parsimonious VARs, which possibly entail quasi-structural relationships between different commodity prices and/or between a given commodity price and its potential demand determinants. These parsimonious VARs will be later used as forecasting models to be combined to yield metal-commodity prices optimal forecasts. Regarding out-of-sample forecasts, we will use a variety of models (linear and non-linear, single equation and multivariate) and a variety of co-variates to forecast the returns and prices of metal commodities. With the forecasts of a large number of models (N large) and a large number of time periods (T large), we will apply the techniques put forth by the common-feature literature on forecast combinations. The main contribution of this paper is to understand the short-run dynamics of metal prices. We show theoretically that there must be a positive correlation between metal-price variation and industrial-production variation if metal supply is held fixed in the short run when demand is optimally chosen taking into account optimal production for the industrial sector. This is simply a consequence of the derived-demand model for cost-minimizing firms. Our empirical evidence fully supports this theoretical result, with overwhelming evidence that cycles in metal prices are synchronized with those in industrial production. This evidence is stronger regarding the global economy but holds as well for the U.S. economy to a lesser degree. Regarding forecasting, we show that models incorporating (short-run) commoncycle restrictions perform better than unrestricted models, with an important role for industrial production as a predictor for metal-price variation. Still, in most cases, forecast combination techniques outperform individual models.

Using common features to understand the behavior of metal-commodity prices and forecast them at different horizons

The objective of this article is to study (understand and forecast) spot metal price levels and changes at monthly, quarterly, and annual frequencies. Data consists of metal-commodity prices at a monthly and quarterly frequencies from 1957 to 2012, extracted from the IFS, and annual data, provided from 1900-2010 by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). We also employ the (relatively large) list of co-variates used in Welch and Goyal (2008) and in Hong and Yogo (2009). We investigate short- and long-run comovement by applying the techniques and the tests proposed in the common-feature literature. One of the main contributions of this paper is to understand the short-run dynamics of metal prices. We show theoretically that there must be a positive correlation between metal-price variation and industrial-production variation if metal supply is held fixed in the short run when demand is optimally chosen taking into account optimal production for the industrial sector. This is simply a consequence of the derived-demand model for cost-minimizing firms. Our empirical evidence fully supports this theoretical result, with overwhelming evidence that cycles in metal prices are synchronized with those in industrial production. This evidence is stronger regarding the global economy but holds as well for the U.S. economy to a lesser degree. Regarding out-of-sample forecasts, our main contribution is to show the benefits of forecast-combination techniques, which outperform individual-model forecasts - including the random-walk model. We use a variety of models (linear and non-linear, single equation and multivariate) and a variety of co-variates and functional forms to forecast the returns and prices of metal commodities. Using a large number of models (N large) and a large number of time periods (T large), we apply the techniques put forth by the common-feature literature on forecast combinations. Empirically, we show that models incorporating (short-run) common-cycle restrictions perform better than unrestricted models, with an important role for industrial production as a predictor for metal-price variation.

Strategic options development and analysis: the case of the brazilian railways

Judging by their success in Europe, Asia and North America, passenger and cargo railways are appreciated as the key to infrastructural development in Brazil. The issues are complex and steeped in uncertainty, as well as political and economic agendas, and a wide array of intersecting issues such as business and unionized interests, agricultural and industrial geographical spreads, as well as the emergence of alternative power sources. Not only are the issues systemic, but railway development itself always comes as a physical network structure. The situation under consideration, in other words, is systemic from both the soft and hard systems point of view, thus promising a rich context for systems studies. As an initial attempt in understanding the situation at hand, the research reported here applied the problem structuring approach known as Strategic Options Development and Analysis (SODA) in order to map and analyze issues facing the Brazilian railways. Strategic options for the future development of the railways were identified and analyzed, and ways forward for future research are proposed. In addition, the report serves as an initial knowledge base that can guide future systemic planning studies in the industry.

Windows of opportunities and knowledge networks: implications for the catch-up in developing countries

This document represents a doctoral thesis held under the Brazilian School of Public and Business Administration of Getulio Vargas Foundation (EBAPE/FGV), developed through the elaboration of three articles. The research that resulted in the articles is within the scope of the project entitled “Windows of opportunities and knowledge networks: implications for catch-up in developing countries”, funded by Support Programme for Research and Academic Production of Faculty (ProPesquisa) of Brazilian School of Public and Business Administration (EBAPE) of Getulio Vargas Foundation.