Segmentation in the brazilian labor market

This paper measures the degree of segmentation in the brazilian labor market. Controlling for observable and unobservable characteristics, workers earn more in the formal sector, which supports the segmentation hypothesis. We break down the degree of segmentation by socio-economic attributes to identify the groups where this phenomenon is more prevalent. We investigate the robustness of our findings to the inclusion of self-employed individuals, and apply a two-stage panel probit model using the self-selection correction strategy to investigate a potential weakness of the fixed-effects estimator

The effect of guia exame's ratings on the brazilian fund industry: an analysis of net-worth flows

This paper infers the impact the publication Guia Exame (the guide) has on the Brazilian fund industry, more specifically on the ability the concerned funds develop on attracting new investment. The impact is measured using the event-study analysis based on the variation of net worth subsequently to the event of being rated, according to the methodology applied by the guide to rank the funds. We used five years of fund ratings according to Guia Exame (2000-2004) and analyzed the changes of these funds net worth. We also compared the event amongst different categories of funds. The results found confirm the expected effects according to star rankings and asset manager size in all years.

Teletrabalho na administração pública federal: uma análise do potencial de implantação na diretoria de marcas do INPI

This dissertation analyses the implementation of the telework project of the Marks Directorate at the Industrial Property National Institute, an agency of the Brazilian federal administration. The analysis focuses on the public servants and their expectations, since the work developed at the Marks Directorate is mainly based on the intellectual capital of its staff. This research first addresses the subject by describing the current technical and sociological context. In which information society and globalization's impact on labour's evolution, and information and communication technology's impact on e-government development are both considered as having important roles. A review of the state of the art on telework research is presented as the basis of the analyses, including a definition of telework and its most relevant aspects. National and international cases of telework, both in the public and private sector, are used as examples in the analyses. The matter of performance control and evaluation is also briefly addressed. In order to assess the viability of the implementation of telework, a review of the activities developed at the Marks Directorate is performed. Emphasis is given to the modernization of examining procedures, without disregarding administrative facts, such as the new career plan and its performance evaluation procedures, that might affect the telework project. The case study is conducted by means of a survey with open and closed questions served in a questionnaire. The analyses of the results leads to the conclusion that telework can be successfully implemented in the Marks Directorate, being also an opportunity to study the adaptation of a working practice originating at the private sector and applied in public administration, taking into account their differences.

REPETRO - Regime Aduaneiro Especial de Importação e Exportação de Bens Destinados à Pesquisa e Lavra de Petróleo e Gás: análise dos entraves e propostas de soluções

REPETRO, the special tax regime for importing and exporting goods for the exploration and drilling of oil and gas, aims at bringing foreign assets to Brazil enjoying a suspension or even an exemption of taxes, so that Brazilian industry may profit from about 8 billion American dollars in investments. The creation of normative devices as well as the management of the REPETRO model are under the exclusive responsibility of the Brazilian Internal Revenue Services. REPETRO was created in 1999 and is composed of the following customs treatments: importation of goods with suspension of taxes by use of the drawback special regime, suspension mode for national exporting industry; exportation with fictitious exit for the national industry; temporary admission of goods or assets used in oil exploration and production, attending to the needs of both the national and foreign market. Considering the inability of the Brazilian government in restructuring its foreign trade model so that a strong investment in technology could provide for the sector¿s needs, we must ask how we can change REPETRO to help the various companies in the oil business? The issue is very important for one of our main economic activities, though not enough studied. The energy sector has a strategic importance for the development and the economic independence of any country. The winds of globalization lead Brazil to open its economy in the last decade and the national policy for exploration and drilling (E&D) was altered. The government created a new agency dedicated to market control and energy policies, the National Agency for Oil and Biofuels (ANP). With the opening of the market, Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras, the Brazilian giant, lost the monopoly of the oil business. The P-50 Platform, with a capacity for 180,000 barrels per day, was imported based on REPETRO. When it began operating on April 21st, 2006, Brazil achieved self-sufficiency in oil production. The present work intends to estimate the main variables affecting the importation and exportation of goods and assets for E&D, showing how REPETRO works. We also intend to look at the results yielded by the REPETRO model for the development of the production of oil and gas in Brazil, as well as show proposals for its modernization. It has been established that even though since its implementation the REPETRO model has brought fiscal advantages through the reduction of tax costs relating to foreign commerce operations and the incentive of investments in the E&D area with the increase in the national oil production there remain the following limitations: lack of preparation and of knowledge of the model; lack of adjustement of the model to the reality of actitity of E&D of oil and gas; taxes over the pre-operational stage or investment in oil production stage; non-allowance of full access by the national industry to the supply of goods and products relating to the industrialization of goods allowed by REPETRO; other fiscal and administrative difficulties. We conclude that the REPETRO model is important for the development of the area of E&D of oil and gas, but not completely effective. It is necessary to change it or create a new model based on a new perspective of the customs treatment of the activities of exploration and production, minimizing administrative procedures relating to the operations of exportation and importation.

Estrutura organizacional versus desempenho profissional. Estudo de caso de uma autarquia federal

During the 1980¿s and the 1990¿s, the Brazilian federal government started to set up a new public administration policy called ¿managerial¿ conceived of new patterns of efficiency and effectiveness and extremelly concerned about optimizing state administration to grant best results for people. This decision has been taken due to three main reasons; (i) the worst fiscal crisis considering the last decades; (ii) exhaustion on interfering with Brazilian economy due to its opening to globalization, and (iii) extremelly deep-rooted burocratic methods. The Brazilian state reform presented as a diagnosis of the human resource government area: (i) gradual raising costs in payroll, allied to (ii) huge raising inefficiency in public services, and (iii) civil servants are unprepared to improve better responses to currents citizen demands and to adopt new methods of management based on the best professional performance and the best quality of public services. We have concluded that the federal government often tries to make civil servants redundant instead of adopting a real policy of management that would give them better conditions to improve their performance. This paper presents a concrete proposal to improve quality in civil servants performance by taking advantage of information technology and of our assumed country¿s democratization. We suggest that the Brazilian state reform must be and should be a new path of social growth and development not only in economic basis.

Barriers faced by the Brazilian business community to access the United States market system

Trade history between Brazil and the United States is long and complicated but it is only in recent years that the trade balance has become more equal in terms of both imports and exports. As Brazil continues to establish its position in the world economy and expand its export market it is only natural that it seeks to increase exports to its single largest trading partner, the United States, and maintain the market share already established. In order to achieve success in these regards Brazil must have a deep understanding of the American political economy system. Part of this entails understanding barriers that must be overcome by Brazilian businesses to access United States markets, particularly the access of certain products at the industry level.

The Brazilian credit market for small and medium-sized firms: an adaptive marketing approach

Neste trabalho, o mercado brasileiro de crédito para pequenas e médias empresas (PMEs) é analisado sob a perspectiva do marketing adaptativo, em que se assume que atividades mercadológicas como segmentação, gestão de relacionamento com clientes, apreçamento e desenvolvimento de produtos, são determinadas pela utilidade obtida por agentes de mercado ao atenderem a demanda. Identifica-se que a existência de assimetria de informações e de custos de transação limita e direciona as atividades de marketing no mercado estudado. A partir de uma amostra com 65.535 propostas de crédito, recebidas e avaliadas por um grande banco brasileiro entre janeiro de 2004 e setembro de 2006, estima-se a utilidade do banco em operações de crédito. Adicionalmente, 17.149 transações de empréstimos concedidos pelo banco ao segmento de pequenas empresas entre abril de 2006 e março de 2007, são investigadas. Finalmente, um conjunto de dados com 1,636 registros obtidos pela junção das bases de dados de propostas e de transações mencionados, é analisado em termos das relações entre taxas de juros e os totais de cobertura oferecidas por meio de garantias de crédito. Os resultados revelam a existência de um ambiente de marketing adaptativo, em que os pequenos tomadores de crédito produtivo são racionados, e aceitam pagar taxas de juros mais elevadas do que outros segmentos. Produtos de créditos baseados em garantias líquidas e com altas taxas de juros são desenvolvidos para suprir de maneira oportuna este segmento racionado de pequenas empresas. Ademais, a utilidade do banco em operações de crédito é afetada pela informação privada que captura ao longo de relacionamentos mantidos com seus cientes. Os resultados implicam que o sistema de marketing financeiro brasileiro não desempenha papel formativo no desenvolvimento econômico, que seria de fomento ao crédito produtivo por meio de empréstimos a baixo custo para pequenas e médias empresas. Um sistema formativo de marketing é improvável em um ambiente com informação imperfeita, como o mercado de crédito brasileiro. O estudo traz informações úteis àqueles interessados no desenvolvimento de mercados de crédito produtivo, tais como profissionais de instituições financeiras; agentes responsáveis por políticas públicas e monetárias de fomento ao crédito; e empreendedores de pequeno e médio porte que necessitem de financiamento externo para seus negócios.

Pharmaceutical patent bargains: the Brazilian experience

In the backdrop of the strict patent regime flatly adopted by the World Trade Organization (WTO) for all countries, a few countries constantly challenge this system through aggressive patent bargains. Within the pharmaceutical sector, noticeably, some countries now threaten to issue or otherwise actually issue compulsory licenses that may sway large pharmaceutical companies into selling drugs with large discounts or into granting voluntary licenses domestically. That is conspicuously the negotiation strategy adopted by Brazil in its negotiations with big international pharmaceutical companies.This paper explains Brazil’s aggressive bargaining approach based on an analysis of two aspects of its political economy. The first has to do with the international context of patent bargaining in the post-WTO era. Accordingly, the existence of large and fast growing domestic markets position countries such as Brazil as strategic destinations for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and trade. Together with an absence of a propensity to innovate in pharmaceutical products, these conditions boost Brazil’s bargaining power for issuing compulsory licenses over pharmaceutical products. The second aspect is related to political economy dynamics inside Brazil. Accordingly, the political framework in Brazil undermines long-term policies and favors short-sighted ones also vis-a-vis R&D investments in the pharmaceutical industry. This remains true regardless of the strictness of the patent regime in place. The lesson of Brazil is relevant arguably for other more powerful developing countries which presently examine Brazil's approach while further challenging the WTO's strict patent policy for the future.

Decentralization and education performance: a first view to the Brazilian process

This paper analyses the impact of the decentralization in educational system that is taking place in Brazil in the last decade, as a result of several laws that encourage municipalities to invest in fundamental education. The proficiency tests undertaken by the government allows to follow some public schools in two points in time. Therefore we were able to create an experimental group with the schools that were under state system in the SAEB exam and have migrated to the municipality system by the time of Prova Brasil and a control group with the schools that were under the state system between the two exams and compare the difference in their results using a fixed effect panel data analysis. The difference in difference estimator indicates that there is no significant change in the performance of the students.

Interviewing the Brazilian military: reflections on a research experience

My purpose is to present some reflections about my experience in interviewing Brazilian military officers. Despite the specificity of the Brazilian case, I trust that these observations may serve as a comparative reference for the study of military institutions in other contexts.