New Evidence from Brazil on Trade Liberalization and Productivity Growth

New Evidence from Brazil on Trade Liberalization and Productivity Growth
Author: Pedro C. Ferreira
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2015
Genre:
ISBN:

This article presents evidence on the positive effect of international trade on productivity growth using industrial level data preceding and following Brazil's trade liberalization in 1988-90. Our data reveal large and widespread productivity improvement across industries after barriers to trade were drastically reduced. Econometric results confirm the association between trade liberalization and productivity growth and show that the impact was indeed substantial: The observed tariff reduction in the period brought a 6% estimated increase in total factor productivity growth rate and a similar impact on labor productivity.

Regional integration and productivity : the experiences of Brazil and Mexico (Working Paper ITD = Documento de Trabajo ITD ; n. 14)

Regional integration and productivity : the experiences of Brazil and Mexico (Working Paper ITD = Documento de Trabajo ITD ; n. 14)
Author: Mauricio Mesquita Moreira
Publisher: BID-INTAL
Total Pages: 59
Release: 2015
Genre:
ISBN: 9507381546

What is the impact of integration on productivity? What are the main channels? Is there anything specific about productivity effects in regional agreements? This paper tries to answer these questions by looking at the experience of Brazil and Mexico. We estimate firm-level productivity and test its causal links with trade and FDI variables. The results suggest strong trade related gains, with import discipline emerging as the dominant effect. The results on learning-by-exporting were mixed, with gains restricted to Brazil's regional and worldwide exports. On FDI, foreign firms appear to have had a positive impact on their buyers and suppliers in Mexico, but in Brazil, the overall impact was statistically insignificant on productivity levels and negative on productivity growth.

Brazil's Trade Liberalization and Growth

Brazil's Trade Liberalization and Growth
Author: Maurício Mesquita Moreira
Publisher: BID-INTAL
Total Pages: 31
Release: 2004
Genre: Brazil
ISBN: 9507381775

Unfulfilled expectations about economic growth in Brazil has led many observers to question the ability of the new, open trade regime to put the economy back on an path of sustainable growth. Whereas the country's growth record has been really poor, the evidence suggests that the underlying causes had nothing to do with trade. Quite the contrary. This paper shows that trade liberalization has given an important contribution to two of the main drivers of growth: productivity and investment in physical capital. It argues that these gains were not turned into growth due to an unfavorable macro and institutional environment. It also claims that Brazil could have enjoyed more gains from trade, had it pursued a more aggressive trade policy at home and abroad. The paper concludes by outlining the main issues of a pro-growth, trade policy agenda for the country.

Jobs and Growth

Jobs and Growth
Author: Mark A. Dutz
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 139
Release: 2018-08-31
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1464813205

Brazil approaches its 2018 election with an economy that is gradually recovering from the deepest recession in its recent economic history. However, for many Brazilians, the recovery has not yet translated into new and better jobs, or rising incomes. This book explores the drivers of future employment and income growth. Its key finding: Brazil needs to dramatically improve its performance across all industries in terms of productivity if the country is to provide better jobs for its citizens and generate lasting gains in incomes growth for all. This is particularly important as Brazil is aging rapidly and the boost the country has enjoyed thanks to its young and growing labor force in the past decades will disappear in just a few years’ time. The book recommends a change in the relationship between the state and business, from rewarding privileged incumbents to fostering competition and innovation—together with supporting workers and firms to adjust to the demands of the market. The book is addressed to all scholars and students of Brazil’s economy, especially those interested in why the country’s economic performance has not kept up with earlier achievements since the reintroduction of democracy in the mid-1980s. Its conclusions are urgent and pertinent but also optimistic. With the right policy mix, Brazil could enter the third century of its independence in 2022 well on track to join the ranks of high income countries.

Economic Liberalization and Industrial Performance in Brazil

Economic Liberalization and Industrial Performance in Brazil
Author: Edmund Amann
Publisher: Queen Elizabeth House Developm
Total Pages: 320
Release: 2000
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN:

In the past ten years the Brazilian economy has experience an unprecedented wave of market liberalization as import substitution has been progressively abandoned in favour of integration into the global economy. Trade barriers have fallen, privatizations have been implemented, and governmentprocurement has been cut back. Although these policy shifts will be familiar to many, their implications in terms of performance may not.Using a comprehensive array of primary and secondary sources and in-depth company case studies, this book examines how one vitally important Brazilian industrial sector-the non-serial capital goods sector-coped with the onset of liberalization. While liberalization undoubtedly helped to promotegreater efficiency in some areas of corporate performance, the impact elsewhere was far less favourable. This differentiated response raises some interesting and troubling theoretical and policy issues.

Trade Liberalization and Industrial Pollution in Brazil

Trade Liberalization and Industrial Pollution in Brazil
Author: Claudio Ferraz
Publisher: Santiago, Chile : United Nations, Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, División de Medio Ambiente y Asentamientos Humanos
Total Pages: 52
Release: 1999
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN:

This paper attempts to estimate the effect of trade liberalisation on the industrial structure and pattern of pollution emissions in Brazil. An input-output approach is used to estimate the value of production and potential pollution intensity estimates are undertaken using the industrial pollution projection system. The findings show that the aggregate intensity of pollutant emission has decreased for the whole industrial sector, but for the export sector, the pollution intensity has been increasing after trade liberalisation.

Trade Liberalization, Employment Flows and Wage Inequality in Brazil

Trade Liberalization, Employment Flows and Wage Inequality in Brazil
Author: Francisco H. G. Ferreira
Publisher:
Total Pages: 64
Release: 2007
Genre: Brazil
ISBN:

Using nationally representative, economywide data, this paper investigates the relative importance of trade-mandated effects on industry wage premia; industry and economywide skill premia; and employment flows in accounting for changes in the wage distribution in Brazil during the 1988-95 trade liberalization. Unlike in other Latin American countries, trade liberalization appears to have made a significant contribution toward a reduction in wage inequality. These effects have not occurred through changes in industry-specific (wage or skill) premia. Instead, they appear to have been channeled through substantial employment flows across sectors and formality categories. Changes in the economywide skill premium are also important.