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The reconstruction of the economic history of Brazil since independence from Portugal (1822) may lead to a new understanding of its economic growth. The deep-rooted idea that Brazil could have done better means there is a need to delve into each phase of its development. In this paper, we provide a very long-run perspective (1822-2019) of Brazil's economic growth and process of real convergence. On the one hand, this review indicates that structural changes observed in the middle of the 20th century were crucial in promoting the country's growth and real convergence with technologically advanced countries. On the other hand, poor institutional conditions and deficient human capital formation have emerged since colonial times as critical factors underlying Brazil's inability to establish robust and sustainable economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For empirical purposes, value stocks are usually defined as those traded at low price-to-earnings ratios (stock prices divided by earnings per share), low price-to-book ratios (stock prices divided by book value per share) or high dividend yields (dividends per share divided by stock prices). Growth stocks, on the other hand, are traded at high price-to-earnings ratios, high price-to-book ratios or low dividend yields. Academic research so far produced, international and Brazilian alike, shows that value stocks outperform growth stocks, challenging the Efficient Market Hypothesis, which states that the market prices of traded stocks are the best estimate of their intrinsic values. Most studies use a single ratio to sort stocks on percentiles; risks (generally defined as beta or standard deviations) and returns are then calculated for the resulting value and growth portfolios. In the present paper, we aim to further contribute to the growing literature on the field by applying a method not previously tested on the Brazilian market. We build portfolios sorted by the price-to-earnings and price-to-book ratios alone and by a combination of both in order to assess value and growth stocks' risks and returns on the Brazilian stock market between 1989 and 2009. Furthermore, our risk analysis may be regarded as the paper's main contribution, since its approach departs from conventional risk concepts, as we not only test for beta: portfolios' returns are measured under different economic conditions. Results support a pervasive value premium in the Brazilian stock market. Risk analysis shows that this premium holds under every economic condition analyzed, suggesting that value stocks are indeed less risky. Beta proved not to be a satisfactory risk measure. Portfolios sorted by the price-to-earnings ratio yielded the best results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Second National Education Regulatory Framework (2nd LDB), enacted in 1971, changed the grade configuration of schooling levels in Brazil. This change made it challenging to construct a valid and reliable education spending data profile for 20th century Brazil. Previous work on the economic history of education in Brazil used the data provided according to the thesis of Maduro (2007). Wjuniski (2013) used that database and ran structural break tests and concluded that the Brazilian government underinvested in the expansion of secondary education. However, Wjuniski did not consider problems concerning: (i) data reliability and (ii) the effects of the 2nd LDB on education expenditure data. This paper shows that data on education spending in Brazil does not allow us to assert that there was an underinvestment in secondary education from 1971 onwards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most policies, explicitly or implicitly, involve sharing responsibilities between different organizations, such as departments, government spheres, ministries, or private organizations. Thus, in recent decades, networks have become increasingly common in public policies. The Brazilian health system - given its size and geographic scope - is an example of complexity and sometimes fragmentation in policy implementation. In this context, the government adopts the concept of Healthcare Networks (RASs) in the operation of its health system. A characteristic that defines RASs is their regional character, since it is necessary to go beyond the municipal borders for the optimization of resources. This scenario of interregional relations becomes denser when the territory in question is configured in an urban superstructure, as is the case in metropolitan regions. Thus, this paper proposes the discussion of the case of Healthcare Networks in the Brazilian metropolitan regions and describes, in greater detail, the case of Campinas Metropolitan Region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to construct a possible future scenario for South Africa in Africa using the backcast approach. Design/methodology/approach - The methodology followed is to present a brief political and economic history of African colonization and de-colonization, globalisation and the rise of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICs). Strengths and weaknesses are discussed and used to sketch a desired future scenario from which the backcast is constructed. Findings - It is suggested that the optimal future is one involving SADC-MERCOSUR alliance with South Africa and Brazil as the respective leaders Research limitations/implications - A study of this kind is necessarily speculative. Practical implications - The paper alerts policy makers to the threats and opportunities inherent in south-south dialogue. Social implications - The prospect of collaboration holds promise of social upliftment in the region. Originality/value - The arguments are original to the author. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the beef supply chain in Brazil with the purpose of identifying the existence of market power between farmers and slaughterhouses. The study is divided in two parts. First, we characterize the beef sector in Brazil, and conclude that the industry structure is close to a oligopsony. Following the tradition of the New Empirical Industrial Organization (NEIO), we then proceed to apply an econometric test to detect market power. This new method tries to overcome the usual limitations in which the results obtained are sensitive to assumptions about production technology. Using profit maximization conditions for slaughterhouses, and a time series of monthly data over a period of 14 years from the state of Sao Paulo, we found evidence of weak to moderate market power in the relationship between slaughterhouses and producers. Robustness checks through alternative models only confirmed these results. Also, we did not find evidence that market power has increased any in recent years, during which the industry concentration ratio has increased substantially. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Brazil, the overwhelming expansion of the global agribusiness on new areas of the Cerrado, creates functional regions specialized in the production of agricultural commodities, such as the West of Bahia. With accelerated growth of crops like soybeans, corn and cotton in addition to livestock, on the one hand, reach high volumes of production and increase productivity levels, on the other, reproduce social inequality and poverty/land in cities and rural areas due to the destruction of nature, labor exploitation and abuse of wealth and income concentration. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to analyze the imbalance between economic growth and social development of the three main cities of this region: Barreiras, Luís Eduardo Magalhães and São Desidério. The extreme social inequality divides the economy of the regional space into two distinct sides: the territory of the territory of the rich and poor, the "territory of the progress" of modern large agribusiness farms and gated communities and "precarious territory" of the numerous and growing suburbs of cities. To change this reality of the abusive concentration of wealth and income, it is necessary to combat the ideological discourse and practice of macro-scale reproduction of the capital of modern agriculture, to provide universal access to collective goods and services and make decent living and working. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our paper provides a comparative perspective on the development of public primary education in four of the largest developing economies circa 1910: Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC). These four countries encompassed more than 50% of the world's population in 1910, but remarkably few of their citizens attended any school by the early 20th century. We present new, comparable data on school inputs and outputs for BRIC drawn from contemporary surveys and government documents. Recent studies emphasize the importance of political decentralization, and relatively broad political voice for the early spread of public primary education in developed economies. We identify the former and the lack of the latter to be important in the context of BRIC, but we also outline how other factors such as factor endowments, colonialism, serfdom, and, especially, the characteristics of the political and economic elite help explain the low achievement levels of these four countries and the incredible amount of heterogeneity within each of them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, Brazil is becoming a global power and, at the same time, it is often considered as the regional leader. In this paper, we tackle with the growing role of Brazil in the international arena while tensions among neighbors are also increasing. What are Brazilian foreign policy priorities: regional bonds or global affairs? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A study about the victimization in the city of Sao Paulo. This paper applies the crime economics theory to Brazilian data. Following Becker (1968), Hinderlang et al. (1978) and Cohen et al. (1981), we tested the microeconomic factors that influence crime and victimization. For this end, the two waves of research of victimization of the Instituto Futuro Brasil, 2003 and 2008, were used in an effort to identify the determinants of victimization and police notification, using probit model. The main results suggest the factors which impact significantly the probability of victimization are the demographic characteristics, economic conditions and personal habits. The models of "life style" and "opportunity" seem to have good performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents a comparative study of social, political, economical, and health situation aged population of Brazil, Spain, and United States. A discussion was made about changing process age structure base don literature of the three countries. Data analysis confirmed improvements in ag people life conditions, and changing on social insertion and political and moral attitudes. Data indicat also that there are no similarities or differences among the countries which can be attributed to econom conditions, nor to cultural traditions. The duality expresses a transition in this segment, traditiona viewed in a negative way and, nowadays, also considered as economic and familiar support. T perspectives are that the aged people positive social role will be emphasized by naturalization of agi and by establishing de analytic references on aging itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to be a reflection on the importance of the Brazil and Argentina closer relations in the nuclear field, in the late eighties and early nineties, as the basis for building a new relationship that replaced a historical rivalry. The aproximation process has begun with apparently economic purposes, but also had a strategic dimension. The repercussions of this effort went beyond immediate bilateral interests, reflected in the search for a new international insertion by both countries, at a time of deep transformations, both internally and internationally. The Brazil-Argentina integration program (that later also involved Uruguay) and MERCOSUL led to the establishment of a political-legal structure that created a reality that goes beyond economics to the political domain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]