DISTRIBUIÇÃO REGIONAL DAS RECEITAS E DESPESAS DO GOVERNO IMPERIAL - MEDINDO O GRAU DE CENTRALIZAÇÃO FISCAL NO II REINADO, 1844-1889

Abstract

One of the most striking features of Brazilian political history in the second half of the nineteenth century was the extent of centralization of power, decisions and resources in Rio de Janeiro and, to some extent, the Southern provinces of the Empire. The article measures the fiscal dimension of monarchic centralization. Based on the computation of the relative contributions of the Northern and Southern provinces to the overall receipts and expenditures of the central government it concludes that in the vast majority of the years between 1844 and 1889 there was a net transfer of fiscal resources to the South. This result confirms earlier research and gives support to complaints voiced by many contemporaries against fiscal centralization in the Second Reign.