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This paper analyzes the profi le of the economic growth in the regions of Mato Grosso do Sul State in Brazil. For this analysis were made quantitative estimates using gross domestic product data (GDP), regional population and gross domestic product per capita and review of theories of economic growth. The results showed that the most populous and most dynamic regions stagnated, while peripheral regions advanced by stimulating the convergence of the level of regional economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The entrepreneurship of small business has been almost unanimously viewed as beneficial for the social and economic life in different countries and regions. This paper aims to answer the following research question: in Brazil, do varying rates of entrepreneurship across regions affect economic performance? The paper investigates the effects of entrepreneurial activity on economic growth and unemployment rate in 853 municipalities in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Entrepreneurship rate of a municipality is the proportion of self-employment in the work force. Its impact on the growth of GDP and unemployment is analyzed by the methodology of multiple regression models. The empirical results reveal a robust association between entrepreneurship and unemployment: the higher the entrepreneurial activity of the municipality, the lowest the unemployment rate. But the influence of entrepreneurship on the local economic growth is also negative: where there was more entrepreneurial activity in 2000, GDP growth was smaller the following three years. The interpretation of these results leads us to the discussion of entrepreneurship by necessity that characterizes major part of the entrepreneurial activity in Brazil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper discusses the issue of development and dependency in the work of the Brazilian sociologist Fernando Henrique Cardoso as possible explanation / understanding or interpretation of Brazil. It departs from the critical Cardoso ECLA structuralism and Marxist approaches on addiction through the fundamentals of his theory of dependence, where the position of the present political pacts between elites / national and international actors shape the pattern of dependence and associated development. This discussion highlights the importance given by Cardoso' s Policy, which assumes the centrality of economic analysis in place, and as the author articulates, departing from Marxist dialectics. A critical analysis from a methodological orientation assumed by the author and given to political centrality to development thinking and Brazilian dependence will be analyzed as a fundamental explanatory / interpretative understanding, especially for Brazil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the 1980s and 1990s, while the Brazilian economy performed poorly compared to previous decades, the state of Santa Catarina grew above the national average. In the 2000s, with the change of direction of the federal government's economic policy, the country resumed its growth and income distribution, but Santa Catarina economy grew below the national average. Based on the resumption of the growth rate of the Brazilian economy in the early 2000s and the loss of the growth rate of the Santa Catarina's economy in the same period, current research is analyzes which factors contributed to this result. The objective of current paper is to study the performance of the Santa Catarina's economy during the last decade by analyzing the behavior of industrial production, exports, employment and credit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current paper discusses how the historical analysis of regional development may be applied as research methodology to define the quantitative and qualitative tools in a historical approach. The literature on the evaluation of regional development, reports by public institutions of the state of São Paulo, Brazil, and IBGE and IPEA data were the tools employed for this investigation. The relevance of quantitative tools on the measurements of inter-regional differences and the need to use them was established, coupled to the qualitative tools for the definitions of activities that foreground regional development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Growth and industrialization in Brazil. In this paper, based on the writings of Kaldor and his followers, we compare two phases of Brazilian economic growth, one showing fast growth rate and other with lack of growth. Our aim is to analyze the Brazilian economic behavior in the last 40 years, pointing out economic policy intervention, structural change, foreign trade and capital flows as determinants to account for gross product development path performance. Our aim is to shed some light on which is the potential rate of growth of the Brazilian economy nowadays, considering its historical growth path and recent structural changes in the industrial sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper discusses the recent trends in, and outlook for, Brazilian outward foreign direct investment (FDI). It shows that outward FDI from Brazil has declined against that from other developing countries and it analyses the prospects for recovery. A survey of the international literature reveals that outward FDI benefits both the investing firm and the home country. It is thus relevant to ask why outward FDI by Brazilian firms is so low. In answer, the article surveys the literature on Brazilian outward FDI and presents new evidence in terms of the firm (Brazilian firms are small and they prefer the home market), product (commodities are the main export), technology (low innovation rate), industry (Brazilian firms generally belong to mature or competitive sectors) and the economy (unsuitable financial system and high interest rates). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The State and its reasons: the 2nd PND. This paper intends to contribute to the debate on the reasons why the Geisel administration (1974-78) chose — as it faced an adverse conjuncture — an accelerated growth agenda which was materialized in the 2nd PND (National Development Plan). In order to do so, it resorts to a methodological definition which is based upon an institutionalist approach and favors the interaction between the political and the economic variables. Contradicting the literature that interprets the strong presence of the State and the regional decentralization of the 2nd PND as signs of neopatrimonialism, it is advocated that this category of analysis is inadequate to explain the government's choice, although this aspect is embedded in the Brazilian social-historical formation. The political rationality of the plan must be investigated in the conjuncture itself, marked by the liberalization project, which does not clash with the plan's economic rationality — on the contrary, it is complemented by it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relevance of small and mid-sized businesses as a job and income-generating sector of our economy has been object of reflection of several segments, including that of the academia. The importance of this sector was, in fact, taken into account by the Brazilian Constitution of 1988 that, in clauses 170 and 179, proposed a differentiated treatment to the sector, also comprising the issue of credit. The opening of the economy, initiated in 1990, has widened the vulnerability of these firms. Based on this evidence, this paper develops a historical study on the existing credit alternatives for this segment, from their first appearance -- which occurred in the beginning of the 1970s, a time of intense growth of the Brazilian economy -- to these days, in a scenario of profound discussions over the ways to be taken towards sustainable economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a bibliographic review of the historic situation of income inequality and poverty within the evolution of Brazilian economics. It compares the statistics which rank Brazil as a medium human development economy with one of the ten largest economies of the world by its GDP, with the elevated degree of income inequality that brings millions of people to situations of poverty. These factors are complimented with some reflections about Brazilian development in regards to the five hundreds years of discovery. Effective actions for the access to education and information are proposed for the exercise of civil and political rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]