Regional or educational disparities? a counterfactual exercise

This work investigates the impact of schooling Oil income distribution in statesjregions of Brazil. Using a semi-parametric model, discussed in DiNardo, Fortin & Lemieux (1996), we measure how much income diíferences between the Northeast and Southeast regions- the country's poorest and richest - and between the states of Ceará and São Paulo in those regions - can be explained by differences in schooling leveIs of the resident population. Using data from the National Household Survey (PNAD), we construct counterfactual densities by reweighting the distribution of the poorest region/state by the schooling profile of the richest. We conclude that: (i) more than 50% of the income di:fference is explained by the difference in schooling; (ii) the highest deciles of the income distribution gain more from an increase in schooling, closely approaching the wage distribution of the richest region/state; and (iii) an increase in schooling, holding the wage structure constant, aggravates the wage disparity in the poorest regions/ states.

Plano Collor: contra factualidade e sugestões sobre a condução da política monetária-fiscal

O Plano Collor foi teoricamente imprevisível, pois representou a opção por uma alternativa de alto risco e reduzidas chances de compatibilizar crescimento sustentado com preços estáveis. Da forma como implementado, o Plano tornou a contenção do déficit público um problema "de vida ou morte" para a evolução futura da economia. Este ponto é abordado na seção inicial, onde tambem se conclui que a contrapartida prática de uma queda de confiança do público no sistema financeiro (devido ao bloqueio compulsório dos cruzados) pode variar de uma maior inflação de equilíbrio a uma abertura de portas ao processo hiper-inflacionário. Na seção seguinte, desenvolve-se um exercício contra-factual, onde as medidas do Plano são confrontadas com uma alternativa bem menos interven cionista (e traumática) de combate à inflação. Este. exercício tem a sua construtividade assegurada na medida em que permite a identificação de alguns entraves à queda de inflação ainda não debelado pelas recentes medidas econômicas. Por último, a terceira seção sugere uma regra de política monetária a ser seguida numa situação na qual, tal como ocorre neste período inicial pôs-Plano, desconhecem-se as novas equações a governar a demanda por ativos financeiros. Mostra-se facilmente que 'tal regra implica na convergência para o pleno emprego com preços estáveis. E, ainda, que essa convergência independe de se suporem constantes, ou mesmo conhecidos, os valores das elasticidades renda e Juros da demanda por moeda.

Brazilian regional development distribution, evidences for socio-economic policy

As to many Latin american countries, the impacts of the recent economic globalization on the Brazilian economy have revealed a diversified tendency in spatial development when regional economic indicators are observed. This is due to the specificities or each region, as regard their sector structure, the availability of human resources and the degree of technological innovation undertaken by local enterprises. From a situation of regional inequalities observed in lhe socio-economic levels of development at the beginning of the eighties the dynamics of the Brazilian regional evolution has presented different speeds and intensities in the several spaees. This paper aims to evaluate the dynamics of Brazilian regional development during the 1985-95 period and the impacts over the working population and regional disparities in order to offer some elements to assist social and economic policy. For this purpose Dispersion Quotients and Dispersion lntensity Coefficients were calculated based on two variables, the Regional Gross Domestic Product anel the Working Population. The results of the analysis confirm the existence of considerable regional disparities and it was observed that thc sector and regional redistribution of the GDP indicate that in a general way, no remarkable changes occurred in the regional development in the period. The results show that although the economic policies did stimulate a global convergence process of the per capita product among regions, those policies did not attenuate economic dynamism concentration to the desired extent.

Productive restructuring: effects on Brazilian regional development distribution

This paper aims to evaluate the dynamics of Brazilian regional development during the 1985-95 period. First, regional inequalities indexes were calculated for the whole country’s economy based on the per capita regional income (Williamson Inequality Index), in order to test the convergence or divergence. After this, the analysis aimed to verify the sector and regional dynamics in a more detailed exam, and for this purpose Dispersion Quotients and Dispersion Intensity Coefficients were calculated based on two variables, the Regional Gross Domestic Product and the Working Population. The results of the analysis confirm the existence of considerable regional disparities and it was verified that the sector and regional redistribution of the GDP indicate that, in a general way, no remarkable changes occurred in the regional productive structures in the period. It is also inferred that the economic policy at that period, in spite of resulting in a global regional convergence process of the per capita product, did not avoid the continuation of the concentration of greater economic dynamism in the most advanced regions, nor did it diminish in any considerable way the difference in the degree of development of the Northeast region.