Human Capital As a Conditioning Factor to the Convergence Process Among the Brazilian States.

This paper examines the convergence process among the Brazilian states using different concepts of convergence and giving special attention to the role of human capital as the conditioning factor to convergence. Different measures of human capital are used in the estimation of the convergence equations and the results show that they play a significant role in explaining the improvement of the standards of living of the Brazilian population. An interesting finding is that different levels of human capital have different impacts on the growth of per capita income depending on the level of development of the Brazilian states. Lower levels of human capital explain better the convergence process among the less developed states and higher levels of human capital are more adequate for controlling differences in the “steady-states†of the more developed Brazilian regions. The impact of the intermediate levels of human capital on growth is stronger in all samples.

Educational Thresholds and Economic Growth: Empirical Evidence from Brazilian States

This paper examines the convergence process in Brazil over the period of 1985-2004, giving a special attention to the role of human capital as a conditioning factor to convergence. It examines how different levels of human capital influence growth in different regions of Brazil. Different measures of human capital are used in the growth regressions and the results show that they play a significant role in explaining the growth process. The evidence indicates that different levels of human capital have different impacts on the per capita income growth, depending on the level of development of the states. Lower levels of human capital explain better the convergence among the less developed states and higher levels of human capital are more adequate among the more developed states. The impact of the relative intermediate levels of human capital on growth is stronger in all samples, suggesting the existence of threshold effect in education.conditional convergence, human capital thresholds, panel data

SMEs, regional economic growth and cycles in Brazil

This thesis presents an examination of the importance of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) for economic growth and examines how sensitive employment in SMEs is to business cycle fluctuations in Brazil. The thesis uses different empirical techniques to investigate the role of SMEs in the Brazilian regional economic growth, using a panel dataset from 1980 to 2004 for 508 Brazilian micro-regions. It first uses standard panel data estimators (OLS, LSDV, system and first differenced GMM) to analyse the (augmented) Solow growth model encompassing the importance of the relative size of the SME sector measured by the share of the SME employment in total formal employment and the level of human capital in SMEs measured by the average years of schooling of SME employees. The results show that the size of the SME sector is not significantly important for regional economic growth, but that human capital embodied in SMEs is more important in this process. [Continues.

Human Rights: The Effect of Neighbouring Countries

We examine the geo-political and international spatial aspects of human rights (HR), using a purpose designed data-set. Applying tools from the spatial economics literature, we analyse the impact on a country’s HR performance of geographical proximity to its neighbours. Unlike previous studies, our approach treats this as partly endogenous: one country’s HR performance will affect its neighbours through a variety of potential geographical spillover mechanisms. We start with simple descriptive accounts, using scatter plots, of the geographic history of HR performance. Using a relatively simple spatial weighting model approach we compare each country’s HR performance with what would be predicted by regression on a weighted average of its neighbours’ performance (i.e. weightings depending positively on country population , and negatively upon distance), using a cross sectional and panel dataset of one hundred and sixty countries. We regress measures of population size, distance between countries, the prevalence of war or ethnic conflict, as well as per capita incomes and distribution, to test the general hypothesis that there may be positive spillovers between neighbours’ human rights performance. This is then extended to derive measures of HR performance relative to both economic, social and spatial factors.Human rights, spatial econometrics

Regional growth and SMEs in Brazil:a spatial panel approach

Cravo T. A., Becker B. and Gourlay A. Regional growth and SMEs in Brazil: a spatial panel approach, Regional Studies. This paper examines economic growth for a panel of 508 Brazilian micro-regions for the period 1980-2004, using spatial econometrics and paying particular attention to the importance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The findings indicate the presence of spatial dependence in the process of economic growth and the existence of two spatial regimes in Brazil. The human capital level of the whole population is an important growth determinant, but does not generate positive spillovers. Furthermore, human capital embodied in SMEs is more important than the size of this sector for regional growth and SME activity generates positive spatial spillovers

SMEs and regional economic growth in Brazil

This paper examines the relationship between the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) sector and economic growth for an annual panel of Brazilian states for the period 1985-2004. We investigate the importance of the relative size of the SME sector measured by the share of the SME employment in total formal employment and the level of human capital in SMEs measured by the average years of schooling of SME employees. The empirical results indicate that the relative importance of SMEs is negatively correlated with economic growth, a result that is consistent with previous studies examining developing countries. In addition, our results also show that human capital embodied in SMEs may be more important for economic growth than the relative size of the SME sector

A importância do tamanho das firmas para o crescimento econômico das microrregiões brasileiras

The objective of this work is to analyze the role of firm size for the economic growth of the 558 Brazilian micro-regions from 1999 to 2009. It was used a panel data estimations with GMM system and a spatial econometric analysis. Estimates for Brazil as a whole show that the presence of large companies in the industrial sector has contributed positively to the economic growth of regions, whereas small businesses and economic growth presented a negative relationship. The presence of spatial heterogeneity in the sample is characterized by two different spatial clusters with respect to per capita income. The analysis of each spatial clusters separately points out that the relationship between firm size and economic growth in the richest regions remains the same, while in the regions of lower GDP per capita, the size of the firms does not influence the economic growth.El objetivo de este trabajo es analizar la importancia del tamaño de las firmas industriales para el crecimiento económico de las 558 microrregiones de Brasil en el período de 1999 a 2009. Se utilizó estimaciones de datos en panel a través del sistema GMM y un análisis de econometría espacial, considerando heterogeneidad y dependencia espacial. Las estimaciones para Brasil como un todo muestran que la presencia de grandes empresas del sector industrial contribuyó positivamente al crecimiento económico de las microrregiones, mientras que las pequeñas empresas presentaron una relación negativa con el crecimiento. La presencia de heterogeneidad espacial en la muestra se caracteriza por dos regímenes espaciales diferentes en lo que se refiere al ingreso per cápita. El análisis de cada régimen espacial por separado apunta que la relación entre tamaño de empresa y crecimiento económico en las regiones más ricas sigue siendo la misma, mientras que en las regiones de PIB per cápita menor, el tamaño de la empresa no influye en el crecimiento económico.O objetivo deste trabalho é analisar a importância do tamanho das firmas industriais para o crescimento econômico das 558 microrregiões do Brasil no período de 1999 a 2009. Para tanto, fez-se uso de estimações de dados em painel via system GMM e uma análise de econometria espacial. As estimativas para o Brasil como um todo mostram que a presença de grandes empresas do setor industrial contribuiu positivamente para o crescimento econômico das microrregiões, enquanto que as pequenas empresas apresentaram uma relação negativa com o crescimento. A presença de heterogeneidade espacial na amostra é caracterizada por dois regimes espaciais diferentes no que tange à renda per capita. A análise de cada regime espacial separadamente aponta que a relação entre tamanho de empresa e crescimento econômico nas regiões mais ricas permanece a mesma, enquanto que, nas regiões de Produto Interno Bruto - PIB per capita menor, o tamanho da empresa não influencia no crescimento econômico

The importance of firm size for the economic growth of brazilian micro-regions

The objective of this work is to analyze the role of firm size for the economic growth of the 558 Brazilian micro-regions from 1999 to 2009. It was used a panel data estimations with GMM system and a spatial econometric analysis. Estimates for Brazil as a whole show that the presence of large companies in the industrial sector has contributed positively to the economic growth of regions, whereas small businesses and economic growth presented a negative relationship. The presence of spatial heterogeneity in the sample is characterized by two different spatial clusters with respect to per capita income. The analysis of each spatial clusters separately points out that the relationship between firm size and economic growth in the richest regions remains the same, while in the regions of lower GDP per capita, the size of the firms does not influence the economic growth