One of the most puzzling evidences of Brazil's economic performance is that, despite the country'... more One of the most puzzling evidences of Brazil's economic performance is that, despite the country's ability to grow at high rates, its long-term growth has been disappointing. Behind this deficient long-term outcome, Brazil shows a high growth volatility. It has experienced substantial growth booms and busts for international standards. These recurrent episodes suggest that the persistent non-realization of Brazil's long-term growth potential and the mechanism by which growth has been systematically constrained are associated to the high volatility that the economy has exhibited over decades. The purpose of this paper is to provide an analysis of growth volatility and its impact on Brazil's growth performance and long-term trajectory. We present and discuss some of the critical issues and main patterns of Brazil's economic growth that are associated to growth volatility. Particular attention is given to its long-term underperformance, its macroeconomic regularities and possible causes and implications of its limited growth potential and degree of international convergence. It does so from a historical perspective and from an international perspective, as the case of Brazil is not only relevant per se, but also representative of many emerging economies, particularly in Latin America.
Palavras-chave: diferencial de salários inter-industriais; determinacão de salários; Brasil. Códi... more Palavras-chave: diferencial de salários inter-industriais; determinacão de salários; Brasil. Códigos JEL: J31. Este artigo investiga os diferenciais de salários inter-industriais no Brasil. Os efeitos da filiação industrial nos salários foram examinados ao nível de três dígitos, e foram utilizadas variáveis de controle associadasàs firmas como tamanho das plantas, nacionalidade do capital e acesso ao mercado internacional, além de variáveis associadas aos trabalhadores. Dessa forma, foi possível a estimação dos prêmios salariais industriais considerando tanto características da oferta como, também, da demanda de trabalho. Encontraram-se evidências de que valor adicionado, margem de lucro e tecnologia ao nível da indústria afetam o diferencial de salários no Brasil. This paper investigates the inter-industry wage differentials in Brazil. We examine the impacts of industry affiliation at the three-digit level, and control our regressions with firm variables such as plant size, nationality of capital, and international trade, among several labor variables. Therefore, we could access the impact of industry affiliation on wages taking into account supply and demand characteristics. We found evidence that value added, profits and technology at the industry level affect the wage dispersion in Brazil. * Artigo recebido em abr. 2003 e aprovado em fev. 2004. Agradecemos os comentários e sugestões de Gustavo Gonzaga e dos participantes do II Seminário de Economia Aplicada UnB/IPEA/MTE, ANPEC 2002 e Universidade Católica de Brasília. Os erros e imprecisões são, naturalmente, nossos. Arbacheé financiado pelo CNPq, a quem gostaria de agradecer.
This paper investigates the impact of trade liberalization on gender wage discrimination. We empl... more This paper investigates the impact of trade liberalization on gender wage discrimination. We employ a simple method that is able to capture the direct impacts of openness at the industry level on the gender wages. We find evidence that increasing openness is associated with narrowing wage gap, which results mainly from men's wages declining. This is consistent with the Becker's (1957) proposition that competition reduces discrimination in the labor market.
International journal of economics and finance, Jan 10, 2012
The article investigates the existence of wage gap for gender in the Brazilian labor market. The ... more The article investigates the existence of wage gap for gender in the Brazilian labor market. The introduction of compulsory open exams applied in Brazil to public service job candidates as a way to prevent clientelism and nepotism. Our hypothesis is that if there is discrimination, so we should observe gender wage gap reduction after the introduction of the open exams. We find evidence in favor of this hypothesis, thus suggesting that there is discrimination against women, even if we assume that male and female employees have the same human capital characteristics within each public sector.
This paper examines the country-level dynamics of long-run growth in Africa between 1975 and 2005... more This paper examines the country-level dynamics of long-run growth in Africa between 1975 and 2005. We are primarily interested in examining how growth has affected mobility and the distribution of income among countries. We analyse changes in the crosscountry income structure and convergence. We also look for evidence of the formation of country groups or 'clubs'. Finally, we use a novel method of breaking up the growth histories of African economies into medium term spells of growth accelerations and declines to see if a group of African 'leopards'-the regional equivalent of Asia's 'tigers'-is beginning to emerge
In the last twenty years, Brazil has undergone several attempts of improving sustainable growth t... more In the last twenty years, Brazil has undergone several attempts of improving sustainable growth through stabilization programmes, and more recently, structural reforms in line with the Washington Consensus Agenda. The results, however, have been disappointing, as the per capita output growth has remained below its historic trend, and poverty and inequality remain at high levels. This paper investigates why marketoriented reforms such as trade and capital account liberalization, privatization, deregulation and stabilization failed to boost growth in Brazil. We conclude that structural reforms may contribute to growth if accompanied by microeconomic policies tailor-made to address the country's needs, and by appropriate macroeconomic, institutional and political environments.
The theoretical and empirical literature shows that union wages are more responsive to internatio... more The theoretical and empirical literature shows that union wages are more responsive to international import competition than nonunion wages, thus reducing unions bargaining power. In this paper we track the influence of unions on wages in Brazil before and after the trade liberalization in the beginning of the 1990s. We find that union bargaining power increased rather that decreased after economic openness. Our results seem to be related to the bargaining framework prevailing in the Brazilian labor market. A literatura teórica e empírica mostra que os salários dos trabalhadores sindicalizados são mais sensíveis à competição de bens importados do que os salários dos trabalhadores não sindicalizados, reduzindo o poder de barganha dos sindicatos. Este artigo examina a influência dos sindicatos nos salários no Brasil antes e depois da abertura comercial do início dos anos 1990 e conclui que, de forma geral, o poder de barganha dos sindicatos aumentou ao invés de diminuir após a abertura. Esse resultado parece estar de acordo com a estrutura de barganha coletiva que prevalece no mercado de trabalho brasileiro.
In the last twenty years, Brazil has undergone several attempts of improving sustainable growth t... more In the last twenty years, Brazil has undergone several attempts of improving sustainable growth through stabilization programmes, and more recently, structural reforms in line with the Washington Consensus Agenda. The results, however, have been disappointing, as the per capita output growth has remained below its historic trend, and poverty and inequality remain at high levels. This paper investigates why marketoriented reforms such as trade and capital account liberalization, privatization, deregulation and stabilization failed to boost growth in Brazil. We conclude that structural reforms may contribute to growth if accompanied by microeconomic policies tailor-made to address the country's needs, and by appropriate macroeconomic, institutional and political environments.
The paper assesses the impacts of trade liberalization on macroeconomic variables and labor marke... more The paper assesses the impacts of trade liberalization on macroeconomic variables and labor market indicators in Brazil. The discussion comes out of an earlier debate on the role of trade liberalization in shaping labor market outcomes in the well-known Heckscher-Ohlin and Stolper-Samuelson (HOS) theorems. To address these issues, we use a computable general equilibrium (CGE) modeling approach to model the patterns of export growth by sector and their effects on macroeconomic and labor market indicators. Overall our results show that trade liberalization contributes to improve economic welfare by means of greater output, lower domestic prices, and higher labor demand. The benefits of this economic improvement tend however, to be appropriated by the most skilled workers in the most trade-oriented sectors, contradicting the predictions of the HOS theorems.
This paper constructs a picture of the labour market impact of trade liberalisation in Brazil. We... more This paper constructs a picture of the labour market impact of trade liberalisation in Brazil. We examine the level and dispersion of wages, the skilled wage premium, and employment composition before and after trade liberalisation. After trade reform, there was a rise in the returns to college education which, since the share of college workers also rose, is attributable to rising demand. This change did not increase overall wage dispersion because of the small share of college-educated workers and of decreasing returns to intermediate levels of education. Among tradable goods industries, trade liberalisation is associated with increases in relative wages.
We assess the stability of the wage structure in an economy experiencing substantial economic cha... more We assess the stability of the wage structure in an economy experiencing substantial economic changes. We find that the structure of inter-industry wage differentials remained remarkably stable in Brazil in the face of major shocks.
This paper examines the issue of how tourism affects poverty in the context of the effects of tou... more This paper examines the issue of how tourism affects poverty in the context of the effects of tourism on an economy as a whole and on particular sectors within it. A framework for analysing the channels through which tourism affects different households is developed, and a computable general equilibrium model of the Brazilian economy is used to examine the economic impact and distributional effects of tourism in Brazil. It is shown that the effects on all income groups are positive. The lowest income households benefit from tourism but by less than some higher income groups. Policies that could redistribute greater shares of the revenue to the poor are considered.
ABSTRACT This paper investigates the inter-industry wage differentials in Brazil. We examine the ... more ABSTRACT This paper investigates the inter-industry wage differentials in Brazil. We examine the impacts of industry affiliation at the three-digit level, and control our regressions with firm variables such as plant size, nationality of capital, and international trade, among several other labor variables. Therefore, we could access the impact of industry affiliation on wages taking into account supply and demand characteristics. We found evidence that value added, profits and technology at the industry level affect the wage dispersion in Brazil.
Fundação pública vinculada ao Ministério do Planejamento, Orçamento e Gestão, o IPEA fornece supo... more Fundação pública vinculada ao Ministério do Planejamento, Orçamento e Gestão, o IPEA fornece suporte técnico e institucional às ações governamentais e disponibiliza, para a sociedade, elementos necessários ao conhecimento e à solução dos problemas econômicos e sociais do país. Inúmeras políticas públicas e programas de desenvolvimento brasileiro são formulados a partir de estudos e pesquisas realizados pelas equipes de especialistas do IPEA. Texto para Discussão tem o objetivo de divulgar resultados de estudos desenvolvidos direta ou indiretamente pelo IPEA, bem como trabalhos considerados de relevância para disseminação pelo Instituto, para informar profissionais especializados e colher sugestões.
The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encoura... more The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encourage the exchange of ideas about development issues. An objective of the series is to get the findings out quickly, even if the presentations are less than fully polished. The papers carry the names of the authors and should be cited accordingly. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/World Bank and its affiliated organizations, or those of the Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent.
One of the most puzzling evidences of Brazil's economic performance is that, despite the country'... more One of the most puzzling evidences of Brazil's economic performance is that, despite the country's ability to grow at high rates, its long-term growth has been disappointing. Behind this deficient long-term outcome, Brazil shows a high growth volatility. It has experienced substantial growth booms and busts for international standards. These recurrent episodes suggest that the persistent non-realization of Brazil's long-term growth potential and the mechanism by which growth has been systematically constrained are associated to the high volatility that the economy has exhibited over decades. The purpose of this paper is to provide an analysis of growth volatility and its impact on Brazil's growth performance and long-term trajectory. We present and discuss some of the critical issues and main patterns of Brazil's economic growth that are associated to growth volatility. Particular attention is given to its long-term underperformance, its macroeconomic regularities and possible causes and implications of its limited growth potential and degree of international convergence. It does so from a historical perspective and from an international perspective, as the case of Brazil is not only relevant per se, but also representative of many emerging economies, particularly in Latin America.
Palavras-chave: diferencial de salários inter-industriais; determinacão de salários; Brasil. Códi... more Palavras-chave: diferencial de salários inter-industriais; determinacão de salários; Brasil. Códigos JEL: J31. Este artigo investiga os diferenciais de salários inter-industriais no Brasil. Os efeitos da filiação industrial nos salários foram examinados ao nível de três dígitos, e foram utilizadas variáveis de controle associadasàs firmas como tamanho das plantas, nacionalidade do capital e acesso ao mercado internacional, além de variáveis associadas aos trabalhadores. Dessa forma, foi possível a estimação dos prêmios salariais industriais considerando tanto características da oferta como, também, da demanda de trabalho. Encontraram-se evidências de que valor adicionado, margem de lucro e tecnologia ao nível da indústria afetam o diferencial de salários no Brasil. This paper investigates the inter-industry wage differentials in Brazil. We examine the impacts of industry affiliation at the three-digit level, and control our regressions with firm variables such as plant size, nationality of capital, and international trade, among several labor variables. Therefore, we could access the impact of industry affiliation on wages taking into account supply and demand characteristics. We found evidence that value added, profits and technology at the industry level affect the wage dispersion in Brazil. * Artigo recebido em abr. 2003 e aprovado em fev. 2004. Agradecemos os comentários e sugestões de Gustavo Gonzaga e dos participantes do II Seminário de Economia Aplicada UnB/IPEA/MTE, ANPEC 2002 e Universidade Católica de Brasília. Os erros e imprecisões são, naturalmente, nossos. Arbacheé financiado pelo CNPq, a quem gostaria de agradecer.
This paper investigates the impact of trade liberalization on gender wage discrimination. We empl... more This paper investigates the impact of trade liberalization on gender wage discrimination. We employ a simple method that is able to capture the direct impacts of openness at the industry level on the gender wages. We find evidence that increasing openness is associated with narrowing wage gap, which results mainly from men's wages declining. This is consistent with the Becker's (1957) proposition that competition reduces discrimination in the labor market.
International journal of economics and finance, Jan 10, 2012
The article investigates the existence of wage gap for gender in the Brazilian labor market. The ... more The article investigates the existence of wage gap for gender in the Brazilian labor market. The introduction of compulsory open exams applied in Brazil to public service job candidates as a way to prevent clientelism and nepotism. Our hypothesis is that if there is discrimination, so we should observe gender wage gap reduction after the introduction of the open exams. We find evidence in favor of this hypothesis, thus suggesting that there is discrimination against women, even if we assume that male and female employees have the same human capital characteristics within each public sector.
This paper examines the country-level dynamics of long-run growth in Africa between 1975 and 2005... more This paper examines the country-level dynamics of long-run growth in Africa between 1975 and 2005. We are primarily interested in examining how growth has affected mobility and the distribution of income among countries. We analyse changes in the crosscountry income structure and convergence. We also look for evidence of the formation of country groups or 'clubs'. Finally, we use a novel method of breaking up the growth histories of African economies into medium term spells of growth accelerations and declines to see if a group of African 'leopards'-the regional equivalent of Asia's 'tigers'-is beginning to emerge
In the last twenty years, Brazil has undergone several attempts of improving sustainable growth t... more In the last twenty years, Brazil has undergone several attempts of improving sustainable growth through stabilization programmes, and more recently, structural reforms in line with the Washington Consensus Agenda. The results, however, have been disappointing, as the per capita output growth has remained below its historic trend, and poverty and inequality remain at high levels. This paper investigates why marketoriented reforms such as trade and capital account liberalization, privatization, deregulation and stabilization failed to boost growth in Brazil. We conclude that structural reforms may contribute to growth if accompanied by microeconomic policies tailor-made to address the country's needs, and by appropriate macroeconomic, institutional and political environments.
The theoretical and empirical literature shows that union wages are more responsive to internatio... more The theoretical and empirical literature shows that union wages are more responsive to international import competition than nonunion wages, thus reducing unions bargaining power. In this paper we track the influence of unions on wages in Brazil before and after the trade liberalization in the beginning of the 1990s. We find that union bargaining power increased rather that decreased after economic openness. Our results seem to be related to the bargaining framework prevailing in the Brazilian labor market. A literatura teórica e empírica mostra que os salários dos trabalhadores sindicalizados são mais sensíveis à competição de bens importados do que os salários dos trabalhadores não sindicalizados, reduzindo o poder de barganha dos sindicatos. Este artigo examina a influência dos sindicatos nos salários no Brasil antes e depois da abertura comercial do início dos anos 1990 e conclui que, de forma geral, o poder de barganha dos sindicatos aumentou ao invés de diminuir após a abertura. Esse resultado parece estar de acordo com a estrutura de barganha coletiva que prevalece no mercado de trabalho brasileiro.
In the last twenty years, Brazil has undergone several attempts of improving sustainable growth t... more In the last twenty years, Brazil has undergone several attempts of improving sustainable growth through stabilization programmes, and more recently, structural reforms in line with the Washington Consensus Agenda. The results, however, have been disappointing, as the per capita output growth has remained below its historic trend, and poverty and inequality remain at high levels. This paper investigates why marketoriented reforms such as trade and capital account liberalization, privatization, deregulation and stabilization failed to boost growth in Brazil. We conclude that structural reforms may contribute to growth if accompanied by microeconomic policies tailor-made to address the country's needs, and by appropriate macroeconomic, institutional and political environments.
The paper assesses the impacts of trade liberalization on macroeconomic variables and labor marke... more The paper assesses the impacts of trade liberalization on macroeconomic variables and labor market indicators in Brazil. The discussion comes out of an earlier debate on the role of trade liberalization in shaping labor market outcomes in the well-known Heckscher-Ohlin and Stolper-Samuelson (HOS) theorems. To address these issues, we use a computable general equilibrium (CGE) modeling approach to model the patterns of export growth by sector and their effects on macroeconomic and labor market indicators. Overall our results show that trade liberalization contributes to improve economic welfare by means of greater output, lower domestic prices, and higher labor demand. The benefits of this economic improvement tend however, to be appropriated by the most skilled workers in the most trade-oriented sectors, contradicting the predictions of the HOS theorems.
This paper constructs a picture of the labour market impact of trade liberalisation in Brazil. We... more This paper constructs a picture of the labour market impact of trade liberalisation in Brazil. We examine the level and dispersion of wages, the skilled wage premium, and employment composition before and after trade liberalisation. After trade reform, there was a rise in the returns to college education which, since the share of college workers also rose, is attributable to rising demand. This change did not increase overall wage dispersion because of the small share of college-educated workers and of decreasing returns to intermediate levels of education. Among tradable goods industries, trade liberalisation is associated with increases in relative wages.
We assess the stability of the wage structure in an economy experiencing substantial economic cha... more We assess the stability of the wage structure in an economy experiencing substantial economic changes. We find that the structure of inter-industry wage differentials remained remarkably stable in Brazil in the face of major shocks.
This paper examines the issue of how tourism affects poverty in the context of the effects of tou... more This paper examines the issue of how tourism affects poverty in the context of the effects of tourism on an economy as a whole and on particular sectors within it. A framework for analysing the channels through which tourism affects different households is developed, and a computable general equilibrium model of the Brazilian economy is used to examine the economic impact and distributional effects of tourism in Brazil. It is shown that the effects on all income groups are positive. The lowest income households benefit from tourism but by less than some higher income groups. Policies that could redistribute greater shares of the revenue to the poor are considered.
ABSTRACT This paper investigates the inter-industry wage differentials in Brazil. We examine the ... more ABSTRACT This paper investigates the inter-industry wage differentials in Brazil. We examine the impacts of industry affiliation at the three-digit level, and control our regressions with firm variables such as plant size, nationality of capital, and international trade, among several other labor variables. Therefore, we could access the impact of industry affiliation on wages taking into account supply and demand characteristics. We found evidence that value added, profits and technology at the industry level affect the wage dispersion in Brazil.
Fundação pública vinculada ao Ministério do Planejamento, Orçamento e Gestão, o IPEA fornece supo... more Fundação pública vinculada ao Ministério do Planejamento, Orçamento e Gestão, o IPEA fornece suporte técnico e institucional às ações governamentais e disponibiliza, para a sociedade, elementos necessários ao conhecimento e à solução dos problemas econômicos e sociais do país. Inúmeras políticas públicas e programas de desenvolvimento brasileiro são formulados a partir de estudos e pesquisas realizados pelas equipes de especialistas do IPEA. Texto para Discussão tem o objetivo de divulgar resultados de estudos desenvolvidos direta ou indiretamente pelo IPEA, bem como trabalhos considerados de relevância para disseminação pelo Instituto, para informar profissionais especializados e colher sugestões.
The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encoura... more The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encourage the exchange of ideas about development issues. An objective of the series is to get the findings out quickly, even if the presentations are less than fully polished. The papers carry the names of the authors and should be cited accordingly. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/World Bank and its affiliated organizations, or those of the Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent.
Uploads
Papers by Jorge Arbache