Land reform in NE Brazil: a stochastic frontier production efficiency evaluation

O objetivo desse artigo é caracterizar as fontes da ineficiência técnica e alocativa em um conjunto de 308 beneficiários de um programa de reforma agrária de mercado, chamado Cédula da Terra;, distribuídos em cinco estados do Nordeste brasileiro. Estudos conduzidos por Buainain et al. (2002) mostraram existem poucas diferenças entre as características de beneficiários deste programa e dos programas tradicionais de reforma agrária por expropriação e que portanto, os resultados obtidos por este trabalho permitem visualizar as dificuldades enfrentadas pelos assentamentos no Brasil. Para medir eficiência, estimou-se uma função de produção potencial segundo a metodologia de Battese e Coelli (1995) e a partir disto, procurou-se explicar as razões da ineficiência (relativa) encontrada. Os resultados apontam para a existência de ineficiência técnica e alocativa que é identificada principalmente nas situações em que a presença de produção para consumo é elevada. Tratase de um resultado que revela a pouca maturidade da maioria dos lotes dos assentados do PCT e a dificuldade de superar as limitações impostas pela condição inicial de formação dos assentamentos de reforma agrária, principalmente na região nordeste do Brasil.

Non-isothermal kinetic for lyophilized leachate from sanitary landfill and composting usine

Leachate samples from a sanitary landfill of Araraquara city and composting usine of Vila Leopoldina, São Paulo, Brazil were lyophilized to remove the water content. TG/DTG curves at different heating rates were recorded. The second step of the thermal decomposition of leachate from the Araraquara landfill (CB1), from the composting usine from Vila Leopoldina (CB2) from the organic phase extracted (FO) and aqueous phase (FA) were all kinetically evaluated using the non-isothermal method.By Flynn-Wall isoconversional method the following values were obtained: E=234 +/- 3.65 kJ mol(-1) and logA=29.7 +/- 0.58 min(-1) for CB1; E=129 +/- 1.66 kJ mol(-1) and logA=11.8 +/- 0.10 min(-1) for CB2; E=51.6 +/- 1.35 kJ mol(-1) and logA=6.09 +/- 0.09 min(-1) for FO and E=76.91 +/- 6.33 kJ mol(-1) and logA=8.88 +/- 0.7 min(-1) for FA with 95% confidence level. Applying the procedures of Malek and Koga, SB kinetic model (Sestak-Berggren) is the most appropriate to describe the decomposition of CB1, CB2, FO and FA.

Recycling potential of urban solid waste destined for sanitary landfills: the case of Indaiatuba, SP, Brazil

The urban solid waste of the city of Indaiatuba (pop. 175 000), located in the state of São Paulo, was characterized, focusing on the recycling potential. For this purpose, collected waste was subdivided into 27 items, classified by mass and volume. About 90% of this waste was found to be potentially recyclable and only 10% requiring landfilling. The compostable organic matter, in the form of food and garden waste, both with high moisture content (51 and 41%, respectively), represents 54% in mass and 21% in volume. The most common type of plastic in this waste is high density polyethylene, whose estimated disposal is about 5000 kg day(-1). A socio-economic analysis of the waste generation indicates that low-income neighbourhoods discard relatively less packaging and more food waste, shoes and construction debris than middle and high income ones, which may be due to low purchasing power and schooling. Our findings indicate that more aluminium and uncoloured polyethylene terephthalate is discarded in the warmest months of the year, probably due to a greater consumption of canned and bottled drinks.

Legitimacy and context: Implications for public sector reform in developing countries

This article examines the interplay between legitimacy and context as key determinants of public sector reform outcomes. Despite the importance of variables Such as legitimacy of public institutions, levels of civic morality and socio-economic realities, reform strategies often fail to take such contextual factors into account. The article examines, first, relevant literature both conceptual and empirical, including data from the World Values Survey project. It is argued that developing countries have distinctive characteristics which require particular reform strategies. The data analysed shows that in Latin American countries, there is no clear Correlation between confidence in public institutions and civic morality. Other empirical studies show that unemployment has a negative impact on the level of civic morality, while inequality engenders corruption. This suggests that poorer and socio-economically stratified countries face greater reform challenges owing to the lack of legitimacy of public institutions. The article concludes that reforms should focus on areas of governance that impact on poverty. This will in turn help produce more stable outcomes. Copyright (C) 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The distribution of agricultural land and the question of agrarian reform in Brazil

Agrarian reform has long been an acute issue in Brazil, where the distribution of cultivable land is extremely unequal. The Land Statute adopted by the military in 1964 constituted a genuine reform programme, which, however, was never implemented as the government chose to modernize agriculture and expand cultivated areas. This has prevented the poorest from having access to the land.-from English summary

Decentralization and reform in Latin America: improving intergovernmental relations

Includes bibliography

A broad agenda for international financial reform

Includes bibliography

Investment and economic reform in Latin America

Includes bibliography

Fiscal Panorama of Latin America and the Caribbean 2013: tax reform and renewal of the fiscal covenant

Includes bibliography

Tax performance and reform in the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS)

Includes bibliography

Latin America's experience in dispute settlement within WTO: the cases of technical standards, sanitary and phytosanitary measures and intellectual property

Includes Bibliography

Foreign investment in Mexico after economic reform

Includes bibliography

Pension reform in Europe in the 90's and lessons for Latin America

Includes bibliography

Inclusion of the European Nordic model in the debate concerning social protection reform: the long-term development of Nordic welfare systems (1890-2005) and their transferability to Latin America in the twenty-first century

Includes bibliography