Inequality, Democracy, and Growth in Brazil
Inequality, Democracy, and Growth in Brazil

Author: Marcos Mendes

Publisher: Academic Press

Published: 2014-11-19

Total Pages: 281

ISBN-13: 0128019654

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In terms accessible to non-economists, Marcos José Mendes describes the ways democracy and inequality produce low growth in the short and medium terms. In the longer term, he argues that Brazil has two paths in front of it. One is to create the conditions necessary to boost economic performance and drive the country toward a high level of development. The other is to fail in untying the political knot that blocks growth, leaving it a middle-income country. The source of his contrasting futures for Brazil is inequality, which he demonstrates is a relevant variable in any discussion of economic growth. Inequality illuminates causes of seemingly-unconnected problems. This book, which includes freely-accessible documents and datasets, is the first in-depth analysis of an issue that promises to become increasingly prominent. Contrasting visions of Brazil’s future described in economic terms Easy-to-understand graphs and tables illustrate analytical arguments All Excel-based data available on a freely-accessible website

Brazil Emerging
Brazil Emerging

Author: Jan Nederveen Pieterse

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2014-05-16

Total Pages: 230

ISBN-13: 1135044015

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This volume is a critical inquiry into the social project and socioeconomic realities of emerging Brazil, a country that faces profound changes. A team of acknowledged specialists on Brazil’s complex configuration addresses state policies, social dynamics and economic constraints and opportunities for emancipation. Chapters adopt long-run perspectives on the development of the Brazilian welfare state, limits and opportunities for emancipation in the labor market, the scope and depth of social policies such as "Bolsa Família" and Rio’s Peacemaking Police Units (UPP), social movements - in particular, the Movement of the Landless (MST) - cultural policies at the federal level, the role of media in the country’s democratization project, and how two important commodities (sugar and oil) shape the identities of blacks and whites in Bahia. This book is essential reading for all those interested in understanding what kind of Brazil has acquired a prominent global position and what hurdles it faces to consolidate its position as a global player.

Brazil in Transition
Brazil in Transition

Author: Lee J. Alston

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2016-05-24

Total Pages: 280

ISBN-13: 0691162913

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Brazil is the world's sixth-largest economy, and for the first three-quarters of the twentieth century was one of the fastest-growing countries in the world. While the country underwent two decades of unrelenting decline from 1975 to 1994, the economy has rebounded dramatically. How did this nation become an emerging power? Brazil in Transition looks at the factors behind why this particular country has successfully progressed up the economic development ladder. The authors examine the roles of beliefs, leadership, and institutions in the elusive, critical transition to sustainable development. Analyzing the last fifty years of Brazil's history, the authors explain how the nation's beliefs, centered on social inclusion yet bound by orthodox economic policies, led to institutions that altered economic, political, and social outcomes. Brazil's growth and inflation became less variable, the rule of law strengthened, politics became more open and competitive, and poverty and inequality declined. While these changes have led to a remarkable economic transformation, there have also been economic distortions and inefficiencies that the authors argue are part of the development process. Brazil in Transition demonstrates how a dynamic nation seized windows of opportunity to become a more equal, prosperous, and rules-based society.

Decadent Developmentalism
Decadent Developmentalism

Author: Matthew M. Taylor

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2020-11-12

Total Pages: 385

ISBN-13: 1108842283

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Complementarities between political and economic institutions have kept Brazil in a low-level economic equilibrium since 1985.

New Order and Progress
New Order and Progress

Author: Ben Ross Schneider

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2016

Total Pages: 329

ISBN-13: 0190462884

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Ben Ross Schneider's volume, New Order and Progress takes a thorough look at the political economy of Brazil. The distinctive perspective of the 11 chapters is historical, comparative, and theoretical. Collectively, the chapters offer sobering insight into why Brazil has not been the rising economic star of the BRIC that many predicted it would be, but also documents the gains that Brazil has made toward greater equality and stability. The book is grouped into four parts covering Brazil's development strategy, governance, social change, and political representation. The authors -18 leading experts from Brazil and the United States - analyze core issues in Brazil's evolving political economy, including falling inequality, the new middle class, equalizing federalism, the politicization of the federal bureaucracy, resurgent state capitalism, labor market discrimination, survival of political dynasties, the expansion of suffrage, oil and the resource curse, exchange rates and capital controls, protest movements, and the frayed social contract.

Brazil
Brazil

Author: Alfred P. Montero

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2014-01-21

Total Pages: 286

ISBN-13: 0745681107

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Once deemed a “dysfunctional” democracy with a “feckless” set of political institutions and a “drunk” economy, today’s Brazil has undergone a complete reversal of fortune. Now in its third decade of democracy, the economy is blossoming and large-scale development projects are underway, including the exploitation of massive, off-shore oil reserves, a nationwide effort to modernize infrastructure, and preparations for the hosting of the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics. Inequality and poverty are reducing and even Brazil’s political institutions are more governable and are producing a higher-quality democracy than most observers once thought possible. Alfred P. Montero’s timely and wide-ranging book explores Brazil’s amazing “turnaround” - from improvements to the working of its political institutions and judiciary, to the renewal of economic growth, the advent of innovative social policy, and the emergence of a new foreign policy agenda. Unpacking both overly optimistic as well as pessimistic views of Brazilian politics and development, Montero offers illuminating insights into the country’s transformation and its increasing significance on the international stage.

The Internet, Politics, and Inequality in Contemporary Brazil
The Internet, Politics, and Inequality in Contemporary Brazil

Author: Helton Levy

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2018-10-15

Total Pages: 243

ISBN-13: 1498585140

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The Internet, Politics, and Inequality in Contemporary Brazil: Peripheral Media offers a new understanding of the digital media produced from the favelas, urban occupations, and in the countryside of Brazil, focusing on the discourse of this broad periphery in the late 2010s. After a decade of political stabilization and economic growth, the contemporary periphery has the ability to employ digital media to politicize old demands for social justice and better public services, and to denaturalize inequality overall. The Internet, Politics, and Inequality in Contemporary Brazil presents interviews conducted with producers acting in the cities’ outskirts, in favelas, and in the countryside, showing how a myriad of websites and social media pages can launch specific challenges against hegemonic mass media outlets, the state, and society. A vast body of research reveals producers’ strategies to garner publicity for marginalized neighborhoods and individuals, providing an essential background for scholars of Latin American studies, journalism, and communication.

Democratization, Political Performance, and Income Distribution in Argentina and Brazil
Democratization, Political Performance, and Income Distribution in Argentina and Brazil

Author:

Publisher:

Published: 2016

Total Pages: 111

ISBN-13:

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This research examines the effects of democratization and political performance on the functional distribution of income in Argentina and Brazil from the end of their authoritarian periods to the present. The existing literature tends to focus on the impacts of democratization and political performance on the economic growth of the country as a whole or on changes to per capita income. This analysis focuses on the equality of economic development in less developed countries because growth is not necessarily distributed equally and poverty and inequality are both endemic to many less developed countries and also negatively impact development as a whole as well as the consolidation of democracy. To examine the effects of democratization and political performance on the shape of economic development, this thesis utilizes the Polity IV index as a measure of democracy, Relative Political Extraction as a proxy for political performance, and labor's share of national income as a measure of income inequality. Theoretically, a more democratic regime should enact policies that allow for a more equitable distribution of income because democratization increases popular representation and makes the provision of public goods preferable to the provision of private goods. Similarly, a regime with higher political capacity should be better equipped to enact whatever policies and development strategies it chooses, thereby reducing income inequality if the regime deems equitable development a priority. The main finding of this research is that political performance has had a significant impact on the shape of economic development in Argentina and Brazil, whereas the effect of democratization on the shape of development is less clear. A stronger, more effectively performing government will be better able to deliver equitable development regardless of its level of democracy than will a poorly performing government of any type.

Economic Growth, Inequality and Crony Capitalism
Economic Growth, Inequality and Crony Capitalism

Author: Danilo Rocha Limoeiro

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2020-06-04

Total Pages: 202

ISBN-13: 1000088669

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Researchers in international development have long argued that the high costs of doing business harms prosperity in developing countries, a claim that invites the question of why governments impose these costs and why societies fail to enact reforms reducing them. This book seeks to answer the question by looking at the case of Brazil, a large and highly unequal economy riddled with state-imposed transaction costs. By delving into the political dynamics underlying a costly business environment, this book provides the reader with novel insights into crony capitalism and inequality. It argues that the root cause of a costly business environment is the collusion between political actors, bureaucrats and business insiders. Politicians and bureaucrats relish their discretion over rules and policies as a power resource, since they can increase or decrease the costs of doing business faced by firms and sectors. Business insiders collude with government agents to access the loopholes that decrease the cost of doing business, thus gaining a competitive edge over outsiders. This gives the insiders weaker preferences for reforms that could decrease the overall cost of doing business. By pursuing their self-interest, these actors create a low-level equilibrium that perpetuates crony capitalism and inequality to the detriment of overall prosperity. The book makes its case with a sophisticated combination of formal modeling, quantitative analyses and in-depth case studies of tax policy and of the pharmaceutical and agricultural sectors in Brazil. Observers have declared the need for reforms that improve the business environment in developing countries for a long time. However, the findings presented in this book suggest they might have underestimated the challenge ahead. Scholars and policy-makers in international development, business politics and political economy will be interested in the innovative perspective of this book.