Inequality, Democracy, and Growth in Brazil : A Country at the Crossroads of Economic Development.

Front Cover -- Inequality, Democracy, and Growth in Brazil: A Country at the Crossroads of Economic Development -- Copyright -- Contents -- Foreword -- Disclaimers -- About the Author -- Acknowledgments -- Dedication -- Introduction -- Chapter 1 -- Chapter 2 -- Chapter 3 -- Chapter 4 -- Chapter 5 -- Chapter 6 -- Reference -- Chapter 1: Low Economic Growth and its Proximate Causes -- 1.1 . Introduction -- 1.2 . Sources of economic growth 1 -- 1.3 . The Brazilian economy during the military government (1964-1984) and the transition to democracy -- 1.4 . Low growth -- 1.5 . Proximate causes for low growth in 10 stylized facts -- 1.5.1 . STYLIZED FACT 1: Current Governmental non-Financial Expenditures have Steadily Grown -- 1.5.2 . STYLIZED FACT 2: The Tax Burden had to be Raised to Finance Increasing Expenditures -- 1.5.3 . STYLIZED FACT 3: Tax Increases were not Sufficient to Finance Growing Expenditures and, as a Consequence, Public ... -- 1.5.4 . STYLIZED FACT 4: High Interest Rates -- 1.5.5 . STYLIZED FACT 5: Infrastructure Bottlenecks -- 1.5.6 . STYLIZED FACT 6: Skyrocketing Minimum Wage -- 1.5.7 . STYLIZED FACT 7: The Brazilian Economy is Closed to International Trade -- 1.5.8 . STYLIZED FACT 8: Judicial Uncertainty and Poor Protection of Property Rights -- 1.5.9 . STYLIZED FACT 9: A Large Number of Small and Informal Companies Drive Average Productivity Down -- 1.5.10 . STYLIZED FACT 10: Educational Backwardness -- 1.6 . The story behind low growth -- Annex 1A .1. The Main Electoral and Political Institutions in the New Brazilian Democracy -- References -- Chapter 2: Inequality -- 2.1 . Introduction -- 2.2 . The composition of inequality -- 2.3 . The fall of inequality since the mid-1990s -- 2.4 . Will inequality continue to fall? -- 2.5 . Are social policies effective in reducing inequality?.

2.6 . Did inequality only begin to fall more intensely as of 2001? -- 2.7 . Social stratification after two decades of poverty and inequality reduction -- 2.8 . Conclusions -- References -- Chapter 3: Redistribution to the Rich -- 3.1 . Introduction -- 3.2 . What does economic theory have to say? -- 3.3 . Inequality, extractive institutions, and rent seeking in Brazil -- 3.4 . Evidence of redistribution to the rich in Brazil -- 3.4.1 . Slow and Inefficient Judicial System -- 3.4.2 . Regulatory Agency Weakness -- 3.4.3 . Privileged Access to Public Credit -- Bndes -- Constitutional Funds -- State-Company-Sponsored Pension Funds -- Political Connections and Access to Credit -- 3.4.4 . Protection of National Industry -- Arguments in Favor of Industrial Protection -- Critiques of Industrial Protection -- Why Is Industrial Protection so Resistant? -- References -- Chapter 4: Redistribution to the Poor -- 4.1 . Introduction -- 4.2 . What does economic theory have to say? -- 4.3 . The fiscal impact of income transfer to the poor -- 4.4 . Expansion of public education for the poor and its Fiscal impact -- 4.5 . Expansion of public health to the poor and its fiscal impact -- 4.6 . Conclusions -- References -- Chapter 5: The Middle Class Joins the Game -- 5.1 . Introduction -- 5.2 . What does economic theory have to say? -- 5.3 . Rent seeking in legal disputes -- 5.4 . The elderly as a politically preferred public -- 5.5 . Public education that does not serve the poor -- 5.6 . The political power of civil servants -- Seeking rent in the legal details -- 5.7 . Labor unions and resistance to labor legislation reform -- 5.8 . Income-tax exemptions -- 5.9 . 18 Great farm debt renegotiations in 19 years -- 5.10 . The widespread distributive conflict -- 5.11 . Conclusions -- References -- Chapter 6: Redistribution and Long-Term Growth -- 6.1 . Introduction.

6.2 . What does economic theory have to say? -- 6.3 . Which path will brazil take? -- 6.4 . Conclusions -- References -- Glossary -- Index.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2024. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.