This thesis examines the impact of institutions, especially the financial institutions, on international trade and foreign direct investments. The first four chapters study the financial institutions and their impact on trade and international specialization. Specifically, the first chapter...

We analyze the integration of Brazilian states into domestic and foreign markets from the point of view of their supply conditions. The study period takes in the country’s fast liberalization process with its two sub-periods (1991 and 1997-99). We estimate the states’ domestic and foreign...

With the ambition of transposing trade analysis to an intra-national level, we work on the determinants and the structure of trade among Brazilian states, as well as their trade with international markets. In an introductory chapter, we present the stylized facts concerning the Brazilian trade...

This paper uses a gravity model and several cross-sectional analyses (1991-2003) to assess the effects of the new free trade agreements signed between Latin American countries. Our findings show evidence that Mercosur clearly boosts trade between Argentina and Brazil, much more so than the...