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In Brazil, the development of the dam engineering can be directly correlated to social and economic progress. Although fundamental, a dam construction and operation invariably involve some level of risk, which must be managed through different mechanisms and tools governed by appropriate laws. This paper aims to scrutinize the data contained in National Water Agency (ANA) reports, published annually following institution of the National Dam Safety Policy (PNSB), pertinent to dams accidents and incidents. This information was cataloged and analyzed in order to identify trends associated to types of accidents and incidents, dam component materials and entrepreneurs involved, as well as the disparities between data available from the different regions of Brazil. There is a lack of basic data in numerous reports, hindering more in-depth statistical analyses. The recurrence of this deficit was observed as well as the need to improve the methodologies used to apply the PNSB guidelines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the evolution of the FIRJAN Index of Municipal Development (IFDM) based on the theory of circular and cumulative causation and the theory of endogenous growth. The period selected for this analysis was from 2005 to 2016 and this analysis performs two forms of comparison: the first one compared the IFDM index of the municipalities of Mato Grosso do Sul State, Brazil, to the average of the State itself, and the second compared the municipalities to the average of Brazil. The results obtained showed that the dynamics of economic development for the municipalities of Mato Grosso do Sul was significantly higher than the national dynamics, but it was still not enough to overcome the situation of a vicious circle of poverty in which a considerable number of municipalities are found in 2016. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a qualitative inventory of 'complex areas'-type geosites within the territory of the COREDE Campanha, in the so-called 'southern-half' at the State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The assessment has taken into account published scientific papers and geological maps, known use of geosites by local residents, as well as a digital terrain model (DTM), which has pointed out to some high altitude or steepness areas. We identified eight geosites and provided detailed description in terms of geodiversity, several potential points of tourism, on-going activities, and existing infrastructure. This assessment could be an incentive for the municipalities and especially the COREDE executive board as they could consider geotourism as an interesting opportunity for the social and economic sustainable development in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective/Context: This article presents the historical context of the creation of Goiânia, capital city of the state of Goiás, built in the 1930s as a symbol of the expansion of the demographic and agricultural frontier in central Brazil. The city emerged through the Pedro Ludovico Teixeira efforts, appointed state intervener by the President Getúlio Vargas. In the construction process, there was the boosters's discourse, which attributed to the promised "metropolis" the power to create good opportunities for economic growth. For this, they relied on natural resources such as rivers, the presence of rich nearby forests and the fields with a less sloping region. Methodology: The study used archival sources based on technical and memorialist reports, photographs, maps, newspapers and periodicals of the time, as well as bibliography based on the theoretical and methodological assumptions of Environmental History. Originality: The historiography of Central Brazil has often been analyzed from the perspective of the frontier and not from the perspective of environmental history. In this paper, we seek to appropriate these two issues, reinforcing the relationship between the rural and urban processes of the Cerrado environmental history in Central Brazil. Conclusions: The real scenario was different from the announced one, since nature was much more a barrier than a facilitating element of development. In addition, the ideals of modern urbanism were partially abandoned due to the opportunism of selling lots. Also, the growth took place, but not because of the abundance of natural resources, but because of the transfer of the capital that fed it back as it attracted new inhabitants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the role of new developmentalist agenda for actions in the economic area of Dilma Rousseff's government. The paper aims to contribute to the research area that examines the relevance of schools of economic thought to economic policy in Brazil. The central conclusion is that - despite the increase in the state intervention in the economy - we cannot argue that the new developmentalist agenda played an important role in Dilma Rousseff's government. The absence of a "national development strategy" and essential elements of the new developmentalist macroeconomic policy support this conclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the results of a research-action project conducted from 2009 to 2011 along with the Unemployed Workers' Movement (MTD, acronym in Portuguese), in five districts of Pelotas city, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. It aims to contribute to this organization so that it continues the educational process and the organization aiming at more effective solutions to the issue of unemployment. To achieve this goal, the theoretical framework of this paper involves authors who have debated the relationship between work and education, such as Marx, Fernandes, Frigotto, Antunes and Saviani. Its theoretical contribution comprises the following: (a) the categories of dependent capitalism and unequal and combined development; (b) the relationship between work and education. At the end of the analysis of the categories that emerged throughout this study, it is concluded that the Movement should strengthen an educational process via work and organization, taking into consideration the public sphere at its three levels, in order to change the space and site conditions: housing, sanitation and health, and ultimately the relationship between work and education. This line of action should be strong and permanent. The workers' organization in cooperatives, associations and production groups is essential for them to resist the widespread problem of unemployment in Brazil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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]

Finance-led growth regime in Brazil. This paper analyzes the Brazilian growth pattern during the post-liberalization period, emphasizing the structural links between finance and productive capital accumulation. The results indicate a finance-led growth regime in the period 2004-2008, under a very specific financialization process. The first part is a survey of the international literature, which defines the financialization concept and its relevance for understanding Brazilian economic problems. The next part provides a historical overview on the structural changes that made possible the development of financial-led regimes. The paper also applies an empirical analysis of some selected Brazilian macroeconomic indicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work aims to present an alternative view concerning to establishment of managerial knowledge. Moreover, this work aims to highlight the relevance of practitioners-managers to the coursing of managerial knowledge, and even its appearance, in a context where there was not management course. Thus, the knowledge transference and its legitimacy had not been integrated yet to the construction science rules, but it has been established in some sense besides those senses that are legitimized into an institutional perspective. Firstly, this paper considers the importance of studies that adopt an approach to the management into a historical view, in order to discuss deeply at contemporary time. This is a theoretical and epistemological approach that has become stronger - mainly in others countries - and recently incorporated by Brazilians researchers (COSTA; BARROS; MARTINS, 2010). Later, this work presents the foucaultian perspective that was used to support us in some reflections, principally the purposes about the constitution of discourses and the establishment of knowledge. We believe that this reflection concern to establishment of a truth production regime, similar at a science production regime, is crucial to comprehend the omission of practitioners' knowledge in studies about managerial knowledge development. In this paper we used some elements to discuss about the constitution of knowledge managerial field, mainly its development in Brazil. We conclude that practical knowledge, even marginalized, has been important to the formation of managerial knowledge field, principally in the period before the establishment of this knowledge into scientifics truths production regime. [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]

The reduction of income inequality and the participation of the top 1 % in the Brasil, 2000-2010. According to OECD, the recent process of deterioration of the income distribution chain in developing and developed countries has been marked by increased participation of 1% of households with higher income. In the past decade, Brazil has escaped the general trend of deterioration of the income distribution. This paper shows that the reduction of economic inequality was accompanying the reluctance of the participation of top 1%, arguing that the reproduction of the movement more generally requires that this participation has been reduced in the current decade, to enable sustained growth and development with social justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to analyze the phenomenon of geographical concentration of companies with forest-based activities in Três Lagoas-MS and region, taking into account the main characteristics of the configuration of a cluster and its importance to the local and regional economic development. The research was conducted through a single case study, integrated with multiple units of analysis, in a qualitative and exploratory approach. Were analyzed secondary data, supplementing it with technical visits and observations in the agroindustrial complex forest industries. The research results show that there are indications of the presence of a cluster in the embryonic stage, which can be nominated as the cluster of pulp and paper-based resources and cluster type of transnational corporations. The scenario is promising to open new enterprises and diversification of production forest based, drawing on the support and encouragement of public policy development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study is to analyze scientific publications about clusters and local production arrangements (LPA's) in Brazil from 2000 to 2011. The study was conducted in journals classified by Qualis (Capes) in the areas of Administration, Economics and Engineering, with a total of 80 papers. The analysis made it possible to identify publication characteristics regarding methodological approaches and research methods, the most cited authors, researched clusters and LPA's and the most studied themes. A tendency was verified in recent studies: the use of theoretical approaches with greater emphasis on cooperation. It was observed that empirical research, in general, is restricted to identifying the existence of clusters in given locations and to describing them with basis on the chosen research themes. Therefore, there is an opportunity for advancing the research and for an effective contribution for theory development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is notorious, in contemporary times, the increased demand for the products made available by fastfood chains, thereby generating economic growth sector organizations. Therefore this paper aims to demonstrate the Sistema de Monitoramento de Arranjos Produtivos - SIMAP for the companies studied so that they can envision new management activities in order to have a competitive edge. To achieve this we used the exploratory explanatory methodology, with case study companies in Pittsburg and McDonald's in the city of Natal, RN, obtaining information through semi-structured survey. Analyzing the data, it was found that the studied companies, are above the average of the sector companies registered in SIMAP. In cross-comparison between the companies studied, it was observed that the company has Pittsburg points to improve in several management indicators, in particular indicator integrated management system, in which the company was below 25%. It was also observed that in relation to financial management, the company best qualified Pittsburg this before your competitor McDonald's. It was demonstrated that the studied companies are in compliance with the minimum requirements set by its customers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the concepts of the Brazilian intellectual property system and its benefits to the international projection of the country when aligned with those involved in graduate study. Consolidated data from Brazil are presented that show the country's intellectual property situation in the academia and business, in light of developments provided by law. Actions are proposed and the impacts of intellectual property teaching in shaping the Brazilian researcher are presented. [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]

The developmentalism period in Brazil starts to consolidate during the presidency of Getulio Vargas, but it becomes effective with the Plan of National Development during Juscelino Kubitschek's presidency, and extends to the military governments. With it, there is breakup, in the territorial plan, with the structure of "islands of prosperity", located on the coast and very few interconnected. The state investments, with JK, will happen in key sectors of production, such as energy, steel and mining. In this sector the activity was part of Fasa, a company based in Olinda city (Brazil-Pernambuco), making the process of exploration and production of phosphate which served, initially, the level of demands in the Northeast region of Brazil. With the linking of company policy by JK in the late 1950s, shows the reaching of the market located in the south of the country incentive provided by the installation of a Beneficiation Plant with longer industrial range. But this same undertaking, full of facts involved in various scales of the phenomenon studied here, paralyzed its activities still under military governments. Thus, this paper resulting from extracts of content needed for research of the objects of the master's and doctoral research, aims to reflect on the process of incorporation of the company and its link Fasa, and consequently, the developmentalism period. Anyway, it is clear that the production space of Fasa was the target of several policies that were established in a multi-scale dimension, revealing that the geographical space - a product of history - is strategy and analyze it under multiple scales makes It something essential in relation spacetime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exchange rate, exports and growth: an investigation on the hypothesis of Dutch disease in Brazil. This paper investigates the hypothesis of Dutch disease in Brazil by the existence of a negative relationship between commodity exports and the real exchange rate, and the effects of export specialization in commodities on the Brazilian economic growth from 1999 to 2010 based on VAR model. The evidences suggested an expressive importance of commodities exports in explaining the real exchange rate changes. Moreover, commodities exports shocks were relevant to explain Brazilian economic growth rate changes, which supports the "curse" of natural resources literature. [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]

The Institutional pillars of the foreign exchange policy and industrialization in Brazil in the 1930s. The 1930s constitute one milestone in the Brazilian economic development, as the accelerated industrialization process has started and became the dominant domestic policy. This paper reviews this period focusing on the institutional changes restructuring exchange transactions, to curb financial flows and balance external payments [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyze the dynamics of participation of social actors in the social management of territorial development policy and how it influences the process of allocation of public resources through the process of monitoring projects in the Territory of Serra do Brigadeiro, Minas Gerais. The study identifies that the experience of constructing and legitimizing policy has enabled a new institutional space (Territorial Forum), which enabled the discussion and selection of collective projects. The Forum, through its deliberative action, managed to establish a relatively autonomous development agenda, which enabled broader discussions on rural development, despite the limitations of the operation of the public policy program and the quality of participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes aspects of the history of education in Brazil related to the consolidation of public schools and educational policies. The period marked begins with the 1930s, a time when the organization and implementation of a public school system in the country has become a condition for the socio-economic development, and extends to the 2000s with the consolidation of democracy and the rule of law in Brazil. It is based on documentary sources developed by governmental and scientific organizations and the literature produced by researchers. The data show that over the period there was an increase in all levels of education, however, continues to persist traces of elitism and exclusion. Moreover, there is contrast between the quality of graduate and public school, which has failed its essential function. These findings highlight the need to solve these problems in order to advance democracy in the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to evaluate, through a single case study, the functioning of the Câmara de Animação Econômica da Subprefeitura do Itaim Paulista (CAE-IT), a mechanism by which it sought to promote work and income generation. The region has about 380,000 inhabitants, a high rate of violence and a large number of young people without access to basic education and no job offer. Thus, in 2005, the Subprefeitura do Itaim Paulista articulated with a series of partners developed the idea of CAE-IT. Initially, they sought to understand the local reality, through the analysis of secondary data. Then, there was a consultation with community health workers to understand what were the economic vocations of the region and in which public policy should focus on targeted efforts. The final decision was to focus on promotion of local productive arrangements involved in waste recycling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work is the result of a survey into the relationship between rural settlements infrastructure and economic development in São Paulo (Brazil) and it makes comparisons between Araraquara and Pontal do Paranapanema areas. This paper proposes a study of group dynamics with the social relations model seeking to understand the socio-political contexts in which the settlements are integrated. We discussed the particular circumstances that have caused social tensions, emphasizing the settled families, social movements, technicians and public managers, the presence of agro-industrial complexes, and other regional economic agents. An examination of different types of partnerships with the agro-industrial complexes - for production of commodities - was performed and, as indicative of new perspectives, other forms of improvement and the integration of settlements in urban areas through public policies for food security. Accordingly, we seek to give the study an interdisciplinary character, integrating dimensions of social, environmental and economic analysis on these processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper will discuss some issues related to the new dynamics of transformation of work and the economy in northeastern Brazil, a region called "Agreste Pernambucano". The research I do is about the so-called "Polo de Confecções do Agreste Pernambucano, " a region that is emerging on the national scene by having very high rates of economic growth based mainly on household production of clothes. Here is a reflection on the socio-productive configuration from the economic strategies, values and expectations of two distinct groups who are immersed in the Agreste Pernambucano productive arrangement: the small family producers of clothes who coming from the countryside on one side and on the other those that constitute the economic elite of clothing, "sons of the land", whose identity is with their own city of Santa Cruz and with the commercial practice. However, from the 1990's some actors, such as SEBRAE with the political elite and great local entrepreneurs have been investing in mechanisms of "modernization" of this household economy, presenting narratives in favor of organizing the local market through the "modernization " of the production process and the formalization of domestic units in order to search the rationality of the profit. We will analyze here the contacts and conflicts between these two economic experiences, namely, that the typical household production and on the other side the entrepreneurs economic organization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper submits to critique the Brazilian proposal to create a new paradigm for international cooperation from its role in MINUSTAH. We compare some aspects of Brazilian projects in Haiti with U.S. projects. We analyzed documents of the Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC) and United States Agency for International Development (USAID). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper intends to discuss the notion of subimperialism in the understanding of Brazilian expansionism. The objective is to point to the limits of the concept of Ruy Mauro Marini, making comments about the monopolistic capitalism in Brazil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brazil (1955-2005): 25 years of catching-up, 25 years of falling behind. The present paper discusses the Brazilian industrial development under a neo-schumpeterian perspective in the period after 1955. The hypothesis is that, in the last 50 years, Brazil spent the first 25 years catching up and, next, the following 25 years falling behind. The 1955-1980 period, by means of international funding, allowed catching up with the paradigm in maturation within the fourth technological revolution. However, in this period, it was determined the main debilitating elements for the country's entrance in the new techno-economical paradigm of the fifth technological revolution which emerged in the middle of the 70s. It is in the strategy to internationalize the economy, granting the mutinational companies the key-sectors of the national economy dynamics during the catching up period, the main element of dependence in the journey that conditions the current performance, responsible for technology subordination and keeps the Brazilian economy with low dynamism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effectiveness of the environmental policy is a recurrent theme in the debate on environment and development in Brazil. Each environmental policy constitutes an institutional arrangement that allows for legislation fulfillment and sets a new relation between humans and the environment. The aim of this paper is to comparatively evaluate the implementation of three environmental policies provided by State of Paraná in recent decades, by analyzing their institutional arrangements in order to identify particular fragilities. The policies in analysis are the Ecological-Economic Zoning (ZEE), the Coastal Management (GERCO) and Incentive policies to agroecology. The hypothesis is that the difficulty of implementing these environmental policies in the state is due to the inherent weaknesses of their institutional arrangements. Among them, there are the diversity of interests and conflicts between actors and between local, state and federal institutions; the incapacity of the environment institutions to enforce its policies in the context of economic development; and the financial, material, technical and personnel deficiencies of environmental agencies. It concludes by pointing out the lack of long-term vision that transforms these policies into government actions instead of State policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diversification or specialization: an analysis of the process of structural change of the Brazilian industry. Based on findings by Imbs and Wacziarg (2003), whose empirical study has established the existence of a U-shaped pattern in the evolution of industrial specialization relative to per capita income, this paper aimed at determining the path of structural change followed by the Brazilian industry in the last decades and at comparing it with the evidence for other countries. The conclusion is that the stage of diversification of the Brazilian industrial structure has ended at a relatively low level of per capita income. [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 main objective of this paper is to present a vision of the Second National Development Plan (II PND) undertaken in Brazil in the 1970s, in the context of the international crisis triggered by the shock of oil prices. It seeks to clarify the historical conditions within which the II PND has been designed and trace its main lines of action. Also presented is a debate grounded in classical interpretations about the period, with the intent to suggest that this development plan, although it presented some problematic aspects -- especially regarding ways of financing the projects --, had an economic rationality that would be important for recovery Brazilian economy in the 1980s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses rural tourism as a form of promoting local development through direct commercialization of local food products along the Gastronomic Tourist Route of Santa Maria — Silveira Martins, Estado do Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil. The study is based on qualitative and quantitative/descriptive methods, and which data was recollected through directly through the application of 14 semi-structured interviews and questionnaires applied to those who were responsible for the tourist establishments. The results obtained reveal that tourist activity and the commercialization of products on the route brings several benefits to a portion of the population directly involved with the activity, as well as to those who are indirectly involved. The results permit us to conclude that the development of tourism in this location requires greater specialization, needs extensive planning, investment in infrastructure and in human resources, in the quality of the commercialized products and also a greater involvement of the local population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is wide agreement that the economic development of regions can be obtained by its capacity of innovation. The concept of innovation has evolved in recent decades from compelling focus on business to a broader idea, that is beyond firms, wich envolves the interaction of a set of actors who have the common aim, the innovation. This paper, through case study on the Cluster of Software firms in Curitiba, intends to map the potential actors that constitute a Local System of Innovation in Software. In general, it is noticed the presence of the actors able to perform the tasks necessary to build a Local System of Innovation. Nevertheless, those actors do not provide sufficiently mature relationships with local software companies. In this sense the cluster of software firms of Curitiba, despite being a dynamic Cluster can not be considered an Innovation System. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Economic growth and foreign liquidity in Brazil after 1970. This paper assesses the relationship between the capital account and the Brazilian economic growth according to balance-of-payments constraint approach. The Thirlwall (1979)'s simple rule is extended to take into consideration capital account and several empirical evidence using time series analysis are shown. Conversely to the simple rule when fitted rates of balance-of-payment equilibrium economic growth average bellow the observed ones, fitted rates of growth using the rule extended to international liquidity are consistently greater than the observed ones. It is fair to conclude that, first, the Brazilian economy grows better during abundant international liquidity and, second, the economy sub utilizes such advantage growing far less than it could grow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to verify the occurred economic dynamism and the concentration economic of productive activities in the Brazilian South Region. The main results disclose that for the Brazilian South Region, the process of spatial concentration for economic activities it made possible the sprouting of news economic centers, intensification of the process of demographic growth around of these and identification of the regional vocations. However, the concentration did not dynamism the southern economy as a whole, allowing that isolated regions of the states reached the development, while others had remained stagnated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the relationship between the impact of Bolsa Família Program in the Brazilian population and the result of the presidential elections of 2006. The database involves municipal information provided by MDS, IBGE and TSE. To control the experiment, the eventual influences of other variables in the determination of this relationship had been studied. All those variables come from specific characteristics of the cities, such as: city with predominant urban or not urban population; size of the city population; among others. The results state that the Bolsa Família was, in fact, a very important factor in the determination of the votes in Lula. It was, in itself, responsible by 45% of the total votes in Lula. [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]