Brazil’s Lack of Growth

  • Jocildo Bezerra
  • Tiago V. de V. Cavalcanti
Chapter

Abstract

Brazil’s growth performance since the early 1980s has been lackluster. After several decades of high growth of per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the Brazilian economy has gone through a long period of stagnation and slow growth. For instance, between 1950 and 1979 the average annual growth rate of Brazil’s per capita GDP was 3.8 percent, while the same indicator grew at an average annual rate of 0.6 percent between 1980 and 2003.2 At the latter rate, Brazil’s per capita GDP would double in 116 years, and would only reach South Korea’s current per capita GDP in about 150 years. The situation improved slightly between 2003 and 2006, when Brazil’s per capita GDP grew at an average annual rate of 0.9 percent, but still much slower than most emerging market economies.3

Keywords

Gross Domestic Product Ordinary Little Square Real Interest Rate Industrial Policy Investment Rate 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. Alesina, A., R. DiTella, and R. MacCulloch. 2004. “Inequality and Happiness: Are Europeans and Americans Different?” Journal of Public Economics 88:2009–2042.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  2. Alexopoulos, J., and T.V. Cavalcanti. 2006. “Cheap Home Goods and Persistent Inequality.” Working Paper, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco.Google Scholar
  3. Antunes, A.R., and T. Cavalcanti. 2007. “Start Up Costs, Limited Enforcement, and the Hidden Economy.” European Economic Review 51(1):203–224.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  4. Antunes, A.R., T.V. Cavalcanti, and A.P. Villamil. 2008. “The Effect of Financial Repression & Enforcement on Entrepreneurship and Development.” Journal of Monetary Economics. Forthcoming.Google Scholar
  5. Araujo, A., and B. Funchal. 2005. “Past and Future of the Bankruptcy Law in Brazil and Latin America.” Economia 6(1):146–216.Google Scholar
  6. Baer, W. 2008. The Brazilian Economy: Growth and Development. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers.Google Scholar
  7. Baer, W., and A.F. Galvão Jr. 2008. “Tax Burden, Government Expenditures and Income Distribution in Brazil.” Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance. Forthcoming.Google Scholar
  8. Baldwin, R.E. 1969. “The Case against Infant Industry Protection.” Journal of Political Economy 77(3):295–305.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  9. Barro, R.J., and J.-W. Lee. 2000. “International Data on Educational Attainment: Updates and Implications.” CID Working Paper No. 42.Google Scholar
  10. Bruno, M., and W. Easterly. 1998. “Inflation Crises and Long-Run Growth.” Journal of Monetary Economics. 41(1):3–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  11. Canêdo-Pinheiro, M., P.C. Ferreira, S.A. Pessôa, and L.G. Schymura. 2007. “Por Que o Brasil Não Precisa de Política Industrial.” Working Paper, EPGE/FGV.Google Scholar
  12. Capp, J., H.-P. Estrodt, and W.B. Jones Jr. 2005. “Reining in Brazil’s Informal Economy.” The McKinsey Quarterly 1:1–7.Google Scholar
  13. Cavalcanti, T.V., A. Magalhães, and J. Tavares. 2008. “Institutions and Economic Development in Brazil.” Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance. Forthcoming.Google Scholar
  14. Confederação Nacional da Indústria (CNI). 2006. “Crescimento: A Visão da Indústria.” Discussion Paper.Google Scholar
  15. De Carvalho-Filho, I., and M. Chamon. 2006. “The Myth of Post-Reform Income Stagnation in Brazil.” IMF Working Paper (WP/06/275).Google Scholar
  16. De Gregorio, J., and J. Lee. 2003. “Growth and Adjustment in East Asia and Latin America.” Central Bank of Chile Working Papers, 245.Google Scholar
  17. Eaton, J., and S. Kortum. 1999. “International Technology Diffusion: Theory and Measurement.” International Economic Review 40:537–570.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  18. Elstrodt, H.-P., M.A. Laboissière, and B. Pietracci. 2007. “Five Priorities for Brazil’s Economy.” The McKinsey Quarterly, Special Edition: Shaping a New Agenda for Latin America.Google Scholar
  19. Fernandez, R., and D. Rodrik. 1991. “Resistance to Reform: Status Quo Bias in the Presence of Individual-Specific Uncertainty.” American Economic Review 81(5):1146–1155.Google Scholar
  20. Ferreira, P.C., and J.L. Rossi. 2003. “New Evidence from Brazil on Trade Liberalization and Productivity Growth.” International Economic Review 44(4):1383–1405.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  21. Galor, O., and J. Zeira. 1993. “Income Distribution and Macroeconomics.” Review of Economic Studies 60:35–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  22. Giambiagi, F., and L. de Mello. 2006. “Social Security Reform in Brazil: Achievements and Remaining Challenges.” OECD: Working Paper (ECO/WKP(2006) 62).Google Scholar
  23. Hausmann, R., D. Rodrik, and A. Velasco. 2008. “Growth Diagnostics.” In N. Serra and J. Stiglitz, eds. The Washington Consensus Reconsidered: Towards a New Global Governance. New York: Oxford University Press. Forthcoming.Google Scholar
  24. Heston, A., R. Summers, and B. Aten. 2006. “Penn World Table Version 6.2.” Centerfor International Comparisons of Production, Income and Prices at the University of Pennsylvania.Google Scholar
  25. Klenow, P., and A. Rodríguez-Clare. 2005. “Externalities and Growth.” In P. Aghion and S. Durlauf, eds. Handbook of Economic Growth. Vol. 1A. Amsterdam: North-Holland. pp. 817–861.Google Scholar
  26. Kohli, A. 2004. State-Directed Development: Political Power and Industrialization in the Global Periphery. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  27. Maddison, A. 2006. The World Economy: Historical Statistics. Paris: OECD Development Center.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  28. Méon, P.G., K. Sekkat, and L. Weill. 2007. “Institutional Changes Now and Benefits Tomorrow: How Soon Is Possible?” Working Paper, Université Libre de Bruxelles.Google Scholar
  29. OECD. 2006. OECD Economic Surveys-Brazil. OECD, Paris.Google Scholar
  30. Pack, H., and K. Saggi. 2006. “Is There a Case for Industrial Policy? A Critical Survey.” The World Bank Research Observer 21(2):267–297.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  31. Parente, S.L., and E.C. Prescott. 2000. Barriers to Riches. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
  32. Pessôa, S. 2006. “Prespectiva de Crescimento no Longo Prazo para o Brasil: Questões em Aberto.” Ensaios Econômicos da EPGE, 609.Google Scholar
  33. Pritchett, L. 2000. “Understanding Patterns of Economic Growth: Searching for Hills among Plateaus, Mountains, and Plains.” The World Bank Economic Review 14(2):221–250.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  34. Rodrik, D. 1995. “Getting Interventions Right: How South Korea and Taiwan Grew Rich?” Economic Policy 20:55–107.Google Scholar
  35. Rodrik, D. 2005. “Growth Strategies.” In P. Aghion, and S.N. Durlauf, eds. Handbook of Economic Growth. Vol. 1A. Elsevier: North-Holland. pp. 967–1014.Google Scholar
  36. Sokoloff, K., and S. Engerman. 2000. “Institutions, Factor Endowments, and Paths of Development in the New World.” Journal of Economic Perspectives 14(2):217–232.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  37. Solimano, A., and R. Soto. 2006. “Economic Growth in Latin America in the Late Twentieth Century: Evidence and Interpretation.” In A. Solimano, ed. Vanishing Growth in Latin America: The Late Twentieth Century Experience. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar. pp. 11–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  38. Summers, Lawrence. 2003. “Godkin Lectures.” John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.Google Scholar
  39. Velasco, A. 2005. “Why Doesn’t Latin America Grow More, and What Can We Do About It?” Working Paper, Harvard Kennedy School of Government.Google Scholar
  40. World Bank. 2005. Doing Business in 2005: Removing Obstacles to Growth. Washington DC: World Bank.Google Scholar
  41. World Bank. 2006. World Development Indicators. Washington DC: World Bank.Google Scholar

Copyright information

© Joseph L. Love and Werner Baer 2009

Authors and Affiliations

  • Jocildo Bezerra
  • Tiago V. de V. Cavalcanti

There are no affiliations available

Personalised recommendations