Property rights as a public policy tool: an empirical analysis of the social and economic effects

Secure property rights are considered a key determinant of economic development. However, the evaluation of the causal effects of land titling is a difficult task. The Brazilian government through a program called "Papel Passado" has issued titles, since 2004, to over 85,000 families and has the goal to reach 750,000. Furthermore, another topic in Public Policy that is crucial to developing economies is income generation and child labor force participation. Particularly, in Brazil, about 5.4 million children and teenagers between 5 and 17 years old are still working. This thesis examines the direct impact of securing a property title on income and child labor force participation. In order to isolate the causal role of ownership security, this study uses a comparison between two close and very similar communities in the City of Osasco case (a town with 650,000 people in the São Paulo metropolitan area). One of them, Jardim Canaã, was fortunated to receive the titles in 2007, the other, Jardim DR, given fiscal constraints, only will be part of the program schedule in 2012, and for that reason became the control group. Also, this thesis also aims to test if there is any relationship between land title and happiness. The estimates suggest that titling results in a substantial decrease of child labor force participation, increase of income and happiness for the families that received the title compared to the others.

A model of capital accumulation and rent-seeking

A simple model incorporating rent-seeking into the standard neoclassical model of capital accumulation is presented. It embodies the idea that the performance of an economy depends on the efficiency of its institutions. It is shown that welfare is positively affected by the institutional efficiency, although output is not necessarily so. It is also shown that an economy with a monopolistic rent-seeker performs better than one with a competitive rent-seeking industry.

Capitalização de Juros: possíveis efeitos da ADI 2.316

Em instigante artigo, Domingues (2011), que ainda permanece muito relevante e atual, e em que se faz uso da alegoria simbolizada pela espada de Dâmocles, somos alertados para possíveis efeitos da Ação Direta de Inconstitucionalidade (ADI) 2.316, que foi proposta no já longínquo ano de 2000, pelo antigo Partido Liberal. Tal ADI 2.316, que continua pendente de definição por parte do Supremo Tribunal Federal (STF), diz respeito ao artigo 5º da Medida Provisória (MP) 2.170–36/2001, que estabelece: “Art. 5º. Nas operações realizadas pelas instituições integrantes do Sistema Financeiro Nacional, é admissível a capitalização de juros com periodicidade inferior a um ano.” Ou seja, em outras palavras, ainda não há decisão final, pois que o STF não concluiu sua apreciação da matéria, sobre se o chamado regime de juros compostos pode ser empregado em prazos que sejam frações do ano.