Using a previously developed methodology for identifying, classifying and characterizing local production systems (LPS) in Brazil, and evidence produced by a number of case studies, the paper suggests that policies aimed at LPS (or industrial clusters) should be tailored according to a typology...

This paper investigates the relationship between trade openness and the current account reversal cost in economies that have experienced sudden stops. At the beginning of such episode, governments usually attempt to equilibrate the balance of payments spending international reserves, but sudden...

This paper studies the distributional implications of intermediation costs. We built a "Bewley" model economy where individuals experience uninsurable idiosyncratic shocks on labor productivity and financial intermediation is costly. Individuals smooth consumption by making deposits to a...

The purpose of this study is to build and estimate a model to assess the determinants of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Latin America and also for a larger group of emerging market countries. Based on a panel data model for seven Latin American Countries over the period of 1984-2001, we...

Tax incentives are common instruments in regional policies used to attract new investments and promote increase in employment and income, but the impact on regional public finances is very controversial. This paper uses an interregional computable general equilibrium model for the Brazilian...

Standard estimations of Taylor.s (1993) monetary policy rule assume that the natural real rate of interest can be regarded as constant. By contrast, based on Mankiew (2000) theory of Savers and Spenders, we argue that the natural rate is related to the distribution of income between the two...

A consensus has not yet emerged about the relationship between budget deficit, external deficit and national saving. In general, the mechanisms through which budget deficits could cause current account deficits are not highlighted in the works about this theme. Basing on the Post Keynesian...

The paper studies the development strategy in Brazil along Vargas' second term, focusing the interpretations which emphasize either the assumed incoherence of his cabinet, or its alleged economic orthodoxy, associated with Horacio Lafer's term as Minister of Finance. The central argument is that...

This paper analyzes the heights of the Brazilian people using anthropometric and economic data from the Pesquisa de Orçamentos Familiares (POF) 2002-2003. The literature suggests that height is a good proxy of the physical life conditions of the populations. The tabulations of POF microdata...

What are the determinants of firm entry and exit in Brazil? How do entry and exit rates affect productivity? This paper tries to answer these questions using panel data for about 104 Brazilian manufacturing sectors (3-digit level) for the period 1996 to 2002. Our results show that the share of...