The risk premium on brazilian government debt, 1996-2002

The goal of this paper is to identify the determinants of the risk premium on Brazilian government debt. As the risk premium is a component of the interest rate set by the Brazilian central bank, its reduction would make it possible for the central bank to cut interest rates to levels compatible with a higher economic growth environment. The empirical evidence presented in this paper does not reject the hypotheses that fiscal solvency and the size of the public debt affect the risk premium as measured by the spread over treasury bills of the Brazilian C-bond.

Government policy and private investment in Brazil (1955/82)

The questlon of the crowding-out of private !nvestment by public expenditure, public investment in particular , ln the Brazilian economy has been discussed more in ideological terrns than on empirical grounds. The present paper tries to avoid the limitation of previous studies by estlmatlng an equation for private investment whlch makes it possible to evaluate the effect of economic policies on prlvate investment. The private lnvestment equation was deduced modifylng the optimal flexible accelerator medel (OFAM) incorporating some channels through which public expendlture influences privateinvestment. The OFAM consists in adding adjustment costs to the neoclassical theory of investrnent. The investment fuction deduced is quite general and has the following explanatory variables: relative prices (user cost of capitaljimput prices ratios), real interest rates, real product, public expenditures and lagged private stock of capital. The model was estimated for private manufacturing industry data. The procedure adopted in estimating the model was to begin with a model as general as possible and apply restrictions to the model ' s parameters and test their statistical significance. A complete diagnostic testing was also made in order to test the stability of estirnated equations. This procedure avoids ' the shortcomings of estimating a model with a apriori restrictions on its parameters , which may lead to model misspecification. The main findings of the present study were: the increase in public expenditure, at least in the long run, has in general a positive expectation effect on private investment greater than its crowding-out effect on priva te investment owing to the simultaneous rise in interst rates; a change in economlc policy, such as that one of Geisel administration, may have an important effect on private lnvestment; and reI ative prices are relevant in determining the leveI of desired stock of capital and private investrnent.

Prêmio de emissão em bonds de dívida corporativa denominados em dólares para mercados emergentes

O mercado de dívida corporativa dos países emergentes tem apresentado forte crescimento nos últimos anos. Excesso de liquidez pós-crise mundial, necessidade de desalavancagem dos bancos e crise nos países desenvolvidos são alguns dos motivos que contribuíram para o aumento da importância dessa fonte de financiamento das empresas. O objetivo deste trabalho é verificar a existência de prêmio de emissão em títulos de dívida corporativa denominada em dólares, suas principais causas, e o seu desempenho antes e depois da crise financeira de 2008. Para tal, foi feito um estudo empírico das emissões realizadas desde o ano 2000 para México, Brasil, Rússia e Coreia do Sul. Verifica-se que, para emissões com características semelhantes, as de grau especulativo pagam prêmio superior às de grau de investimento. Características como o tamanho e prazo têm relação positiva com o prêmio de emissão, enquanto que variáveis relacionadas à assimetria de informação entre investidores e empresas apontam para redução do mesmo, embora não de forma significativa. Mostra-se ainda que o prêmio de emissão desaparece após aproximadamente 5 dias úteis de negociação, período a partir do qual os bonds não têm desempenho superior a um índice de mercado. Por fim, faz-se uma comparação do prêmio de emissão nos períodos pré e pós-crise mundial, onde não se verifica redução significativa de prêmio de emissão, e sim um aumento no tamanho e prazo das emissões, indicando uma possível redução de assimetria de informação entre empresas e investidores nos últimos anos.

Inadimplência de dívida soberana em modelo de equilíbrio geral com credores heterogêneos

Este artigo propõe um modelo de equilíbrio geral com inadimplência de dívida soberana (default soberano), sem setor bancário ou setor externo, em que há heterogeneidade dos agentes da economia. Essa heterogeneidade surge a partir da existência de dois tipos de consumidores com choques de riqueza distintos (mas idênticos em outros aspectos) e o governo, que toma decisão de default, pondera esses agentes de maneira distinta na função de bem-estar. O principal motivador dessa ideia vem da intuição de que a decisão de um país não cumprir com as suas obrigações de dívida pode estar ligada não somente ao valor de face dos títulos emitidos ou à situação econômica, mas também a quem detêm esses títulos (sua distribuição entre agentes). Essa abordagem permitiu que se reproduzissem comportamentos já identificados em estudos empíricos presentes na literatura, os quais encontraram uma relação negativa, porém surpreendentemente fraca, entre moratória da dívida e atividade econômica e lança luz sobre aspectos importantes que podem influenciar a decisão de default, como funcionamento de mercados secundários de títulos públicos.

Low expectations, low demand : when should the government intervene?

Este trabalho estuda o impacto de diferentes políticas que procuram mitigar falhas de coordenação em um ambiente macroeconômico. Abordamos questões relativas ao timing dos estímulos econômicos. Quando o governo deveria começar a incentivar a economia? Deveria gastar mais para prevenir crises ou para tirar a economia da recessão quando os fundamentos estão melhorando? Como o estímulo deve alterar a complementaridade estratégica? Para responder a estas perguntas, construímos um modelo macroeconômico dinâmico com concorrência monopolística e decisões de investimento sequenciais. Aplicando resultados da literatura teórica de jogos dinâmicos com fricções, selecionamos um único equilíbrio neste modelo, nos dando um instrumental tratável para a análise de políticas. Nossos resultados sugerem que o governo não deveria viesar incentivos nem para a prevenção de crises nem para resgatar a economia quando esta já está em crise.

Ineficiências entre os mercados onshore e offshore de Renminbi

Autoridades chinesas tem buscado agir com rapidez, mas com costumeira cautela, para que sua moeda seja capaz de adquirir status de moeda internacional de reserva. Embora tal objetivo exija eliminação ou considerável relaxamento dos controles de capitais, estes ainda existem e geram significativas distorções entre os mercados de câmbio e juros em Renminbi onshore, na China Continental, e offshore, em Hong Kong. Este trabalho descreve algumas destas distorções através da análise de instrumentos financeiros operados nos mercados à vista de moeda (Renminbi spot), forward de moeda (NDF de Renminbi), e de dívida governamental e corporativa em Hong Kong (Dim Sum Bonds).

Campaign donation and government contracts in Brazilian states

A corporate firm may influence policies in its favor by transferring money to political candidates. However, empirical studies which document evidence about the return on campaign donations are rare (Großer, Reuben and Tymula, 2013). In this paper we estimate the net expected return of a campaign donation in eight Brazilian states using a Regression Discontinuity Design (RDD) to separate the return of winning and losing state deputy candidates in the electoral coalition in 2006. Our results show that that the net return is quite high (i.e., the investment of donor firms is almost 2% of the net expected return), and is larger among traditional electoral parties than any other parties, on average. Looking at the heterogeneity of local executive and legislative levels, we find that net returns are higher when donor firms finance deputies within a governor’s electoral coalition than deputies outside this coalition.

Um Vice-reinado na República do pós-30: Juarez Távora, as interventorias do Norte e a Guerra de 1932

Esta tese investiga a trajetória da região geopolítica conhecida como Norte, durante o Governo Provisório varguista (1930-1934). Ela começou a ser gestada no imediato pós- 30 e, nos anos seguintes, tornou-se uma das forças políticas mais ativas de todo o período. O Norte era formado pelo então território federal do Acre e os estado do Amazonas, Pará, Maranhão, Piauí, Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Alagoas, Sergipe, Bahia e Espírito Santo. Nesta conjuntura, as principais posições políticas e militares nesses estados passaram a ser ocupadas pelos que adotaram a autodesignação de revolucionários nortistas. A invenção e consolidação dessa identidade política tinha como elemento agregador o reconhecimento de Juarez Távora como grande líder e representante dos interesses da região junto ao Governo Provisório. Chamado ironicamente, por seus opositores, de “Vice-rei do Norte”, Távora liderou esse grupo durante todo o período, construindo uma importante aliança entre essa região geopolítica e o Governo Provisório. Desse modo, o Norte, seus revolucionários e seu líder foram os principais apoiadores de Vargas na defesa do projeto de centralização política, em oposição a outras correntes, sobretudo as que pregavam o retorno ao regime constitucional. Dessa forma, o Norte participou decisivamente do processo de radicalização que desembocou na guerra civil de 1932, enviando milhares de soldados para os campos de batalha e combatendo, dentro da região, os possíveis aliados do movimento rebelde liderado por São Paulo. Com o fim da guerra e confirmado o retorno do país ao regime constitucional, apesar da tentativa de permanecer como um grande bloco político, a região se fragmenta e os antigos laços que definiam a identidade dos revolucionários nortistas se dissolvem, assim como a liderança indiscutível de seu líder e herói, Juarez Távora.

Does liquidity constraints matter for Ricardian equivalence?

The paper analysis a general equilibrium model with two periods, several households and a government that has to finance some expenditures in the first period. Households may have some private information either about their type (adverse selection) or about some action levei chosen in the first period that affects the probability of certain states of nature in the second period (moral hazard). Trade of financiai assets are intermediated by a finite collection of banks. Banks objective functions are determined in equilibrium by shareholders. Due to private information it may be optimal for the banks to introduce constraints in the set of available portfolios for each household as wellas household specific asset prices. In particular, households may face distinct interest rates for holding the risk-free asset. The government finances its expenditures either by taxing households in the first period or by issuing bonds in the first period and taxing households in the second period. Taxes may be state-dependent. Suppose government policies are neutml: i) government policies do not affect the distribution of wealth across households; and ii) if the government decides to tax a household in the second period there is a portfolio available for the banks that generates the Mme payoff in each state of nature as the household taxes. Tben, Ricardian equivalence holds if and only if an appropriate boundary condition is satisfied. Moreover, at every free-entry equilibrium the boundary condition is satisfied and thus Ricardian equivalence holds. These results do not require any particular assumption on the banks' objective function. In particular, we do not assume banks to be risk neutral.

Interests prices and the Barosky - Summers resolution of the Gibson paradox under the gold standard

This paper presents a structural monetary úamework featunng a demand function for non-monetary uses of gold, such as the one drawn by Barsky and Summers in their 1988 analy8ÚI of the Gibson Paradox as a natural concomitant of the gold standard period. That structural model predicts that the laws of behavior of nominal prices and interest rates are functions of the rules set by the government to command the money supply. !ta fiduciary vemon obtaina Fisherian relationships &8 particular cases. !ta gold atandard 801ution yields a modelsimilar to the Barsky and Summers model, in which interest rates are exogeneous and subject to shocb. This paper integrates governnment bonds into the analysis, treats interest rates endogenously, and ahifts the responsibility for the shocb to the government budgetary financing policies. The Gibson paradox appears as "practically" the only cl&18 of behavioral pattern open for interest rates and price movements under apure gold standard economy. Fisherian-like relationshipe are utterly ruled out.

Understanding e-government technology transfer: evidence from the transfer of a patent management system from EPO to INPI

Drawing upon Brazilian experience, this research explores some of the key issues to be addressed in using e-government technical cooperation designed to enhance service provision of Patent Offices in developing countries. While the development of software applications is often seen merely as a technical engineering exercise, localization and adaptation are context bounded matters that are characterized by many entanglements of human and non-humans. In this work, technical, legal and policy implications of technical cooperation are also discussed in a complex and dynamic implementation environment characterized by the influence of powerful hidden agendas associated with the arena of intellectual property (IP), which are shaped by recent technological, economic and social developments in our current knowledge-based economy. This research employs two different theoretical lenses to examine the same case, which consists of transfer of a Patent Management System (PMS) from the European Patent Office (EPO) to the Brazilian Patent Office that is locally named ‘Instituto Nacional da Propriedade Industrial’ (INPI). Fundamentally, we have opted for a multi-paper thesis comprising an introduction, three scientific articles and a concluding chapter that discusses and compares the insights obtained from each article. The first article is dedicated to present an extensive literature review on e-government and technology transfer. This review allowed the proposition on an integrative meta-model of e-government technology transfer, which is named E-government Transfer Model (ETM). Subsequently, in the second article, we present Actor-Network Theory (ANT) as a framework for understanding the processes of transferring e-government technologies from Patent Offices in developed countries to Patent Offices in developing countries. Overall, ANT is seen as having a potentially wide area of application and being a promising theoretical vehicle in IS research to carry out a social analysis of messy and heterogeneous processes that drive technical change. Drawing particularly on the works of Bruno Latour, Michel Callon and John Law, this work applies this theory to a longitudinal study of the management information systems supporting the Brazilian Patent Office restructuration plan that involved the implementation of a European Patent Management System in Brazil. Based upon the ANT elements, we follow the actors to identify and understand patterns of group formation associated with the technical cooperation between the Brazilian Patent Office (INPI) and the European Patent Office (EPO). Therefore, this research explores the intricate relationships and interactions between human and non-human actors in their attempts to construct various network alliances, thereby demonstrating that technologies embodies compromise. Finally, the third article applies ETM model as a heuristic frame to examine the same case previously studied from an ANT perspective. We have found evidence that ETM has strong heuristic qualities that can guide practitioners who are engaged in the transfer of e-government systems from developed to developing countries. The successful implementation of e-government projects in developing countries is important to stimulate economic growth and, as a result, we need to understand the processes through which such projects are being implemented and succeed. Here, we attempt to improve understanding on the development and stabilization of a complex social-technical system in the arena of intellectual property. Our preliminary findings suggest that e-government technology transfer is an inherently political process and that successful outcomes require continuous incremental actions and improvisations to address the ongoing issues as they emerge.

The effects of government deficit on equilibrium real exchange rates and stock prices

This paper studies the effect of government deficits on equilibrium real exchange rates and stock prices. The theoretical part modifies a two-country cash-in-advance model like used in Lucas(1982) and Sargent(1987) in order to accommodate an exchange rate market and a government that pursues fiscal and monetary policy targets. The implied result is that unanticipated shocks in government deficits raise expectations of both taxes and inflation and, therefore, are associated with real exchange rate devaluations and lower stock prices. This finding is strongly supported by empirical evidence for a group of 19 countries, representing 76% of world production

Inglorious revolution : sovereign debt, tropical credibility, and financial underdevelopment in imperial Brazil

In 1824 the creation of institutions that constrained the monarch’s ability to unilaterally tax, spend, and debase the currency put Brazil on a path toward a revolution in public finance, roughly analogous to the financial consequences of England’s Glorious Revolution. This credible commitment to honor sovereign debt resulted in successful long-term funded borrowing at home and abroad from the 1820s through the 1880s that was unrivalled in Latin America. Some domestic bonds, denominated in the home currency and bearing exchange clauses, eventually circulated in European financial markets. The share of total debt accounted for by long-term funded issues grew, and domestic debt came to dominate foreign debt. Sovereign debt yields fell over time in London and Rio de Janeiro, and the cost of new borrowing declined on average. The market’s assessment of the probability of default tended to decrease. Imperial Brazil enjoyed favorable conditions for borrowing, and escaped the strong form of “original sin” stressed by recent work on sovereign debt. The development of vibrant private financial markets did not, however, follow from the enhanced credibility of government debt. Private finance in Imperial Brazil suffered from politicized market interventions that undermined the development of domestic capital markets. Private interest rates remained high, entry into commercial banking was heavily restricted, and limited-liability joint-stock companies were tightly controlled. The Brazilian case provides a powerful counterexample to the general proposition of North and Weingast that institutional changes that credibly commit the government to honor its obligations necessarily promote the development of private finance. The very institutions that enhanced the credibility of sovereign debt permitted the systematic repression of private financial development. In terms of its consequences for domestic capital markets, the liberal Constitution of 1824 represented an “inglorious” revolution.

Temporary exchange rate-based stabilization programs under asset market segmentation

This paper analyses the welfare consequences of temporary exchange rate-based stabilization programs. Differently than previous papers, however, here we assume that only a fraction of households participates in asset market transactions. With this asset market segmentation assumption, the effects of temporary programs on welfare may change drastically. Households with access to the bonds market are able to protect themselves better from the changes in the inflation rate – although at the cost of a distortion in their consumption path. As a consequence, they may decrease their inflation tax burden – which would increase for the other group of households. By the other side, when these agents that lack the access to the asset markets are credit constrained, they may welcome the program, since the government Is temporally reducing the inflation tax they have to pay. The temporary program could end up benefiting both groups, what could help to understand their popularity.

Twitter snapshots show Venezuela’s government isolated from its people

How isolated is Venezuela’s government from the people it supposedly represents? Very isolated indeed, according to a study commissioned by beyondbrics from Marco Ruediger and colleages at FGV DAPP, the department of public policy analysis at the Fundação Getulio Vergas in Rio de Janeiro. The study, derived from activity on Twitter, demonstrates the extreme polarisation of opinion in the country and suggests that Venezuela’s media, often either controlled or suppressed by the government, is increasingly lining up with opposition voices.