Aléssio Tony Cavalcanti de Almeida

Determinants of Judicial Efficiency Change: Evidence from Brazil

Abstract Judicial efficiency matters for economic development. Nevertheless, the determinants of judicial productivity growth are not entirely understood. Using data of Brazils state courts for the period of 2009 to 2014, this paper analyzes judicial productivity change and its possible determinants over time in a two stage approach. First, data envelopment analysis is used to calculate Malmquist productivity measures which are decomposed in: technical change (frontier-shift effect) and efficiency change (composed of pure efficiency change and scale efficiency change). In the second stage, fixed effect models are estimated to evaluate the associated factors with judicial productivity growth. The first stage results show a slight improvement in judicial productivity trend, which is defined mainly by efficiency change, since technical change deteriorated in the period. The second stage findings suggest the nonexistence of a trade-off between judicial quality and efficiency improvement. Moreover, judges’ remuneration, legal complexity and technological use are correlated with judicial productivity, however not always in the expected direction.

Influence of the C677T Polymorphism of the MTHFR Gene on Oxidative Stress in Women With Overweight or Obesity: Response to a Dietary Folate Intervention

ABSTRACT The C677T polymorphism of the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase gene (MTHFR) is related to folate metabolism and can alter the levels of biochemical markers. Objective: Investigate the influence of the MTHFR C677T polymorphism on the effects of a dietary folate intervention on oxidative stress in women with overweight or obesity. Methods: Forty-eight adult women with overweight or obesity were subjected to a 24-hour dietary recall, anthropometric measurements, biochemical analysis, and genotyping of the MTHFR C677T polymorphism. They were allocated by convenience sampling to 2 groups, which received 300 g of folate-rich vegetables containing 191 µg/d (Group 1) (n = 24) or 95 µg/d (Group 2) (n = 24) of folate for 8 weeks. Results: The dietary intervention increased the serum folic acid levels in the 2 analyzed groups. The intervention with 191 µg/d of folate led to relevant results in terms of homocysteine levels (p = 0.0005) and total antioxidant capacity (p = 0.0261); the effect was larger among carriers of the TT genotype. Conclusions: The study demonstrated the beneficial effect of folate intake in terms of a TAC elevation for the CC and TT genotypes of the MTHFR C677T polymorphism, an increase in folic acid levels for all genotypes, and a reduction in the Hcy levels for the TT genotype in response to an intervention consisting of an intake of 191 µg/d of folate supplied by vegetables.

Measures of intergenerational transmission of obesity in Brazil

A growing proportion of overweight individuals in Brazilian population highlights the importance of research in this area. Thus, this paper investigates the obesity problem from the point of view of intergenerational approach using Body Mass Index (BMI) of parents and their children. The information concerning BMI and socioeconomic control variables are obtained from the Household Budget Survey (POF) 2008-2009. The methodology of analysis considers the Markov transition matrix, quantile regressions and logistic regressions taking into account gender and family structure. The results suggest the existence of a strong association of BMI between parents and children, with the fraction of obese children increasing in families with single parents and households where both parents are obese. The analysis of quantile intergenerational elasticity indicates the higher childrens age and their more intense BMI index is the intergenerational effect of parental health. Finally, the effect of maternal obesity is greater than the effect of paternal obesity in terms of intergenerational transmission of obesity for the children, regardless of gender.A growing proportion of overweight individuals in Brazilian population highlights the importance of research in this area. Thus, this paper investigates the obesity problem from the point of view of intergenerational approach using Body Mass Index (BMI) of parents and their children. The information concerning BMI and socioeconomic control variables are obtained from the Household Budget Survey (POF) 2008-2009. The methodology of analysis considers the Markov transition matrix, quantile regressions and logistic regressions taking into account gender and family structure. The results suggest the existence of a strong association of BMI between parents and children, with the fraction of obese children increasing in families with single parents and households where both parents are obese. The analysis of quantile intergenerational elasticity indicates the higher childrens age and their more intense BMI index is the intergenerational effect of parental health. Finally, the effect of maternal obesity is greater than the effect of paternal obesity in terms of intergenerational transmission of obesity for the children, regardless of gender.A crescente parcela de individuos com excesso de peso na populacao brasileira realca a relevância de pesquisas nessa area. Assim, este artigo investiga o problema da obesidade do ponto de vista intergeracional, a partir dos indices de massa corporal (IMC) de pais e filhos. As informacoes sobre o IMC e as variaveis de controle socioeconomicas sao oriundas da Pesquisa de Orcamentos Familiares (POF) 2008-2009. A metodologia de analise considera as matrizes de transicao markovianas e regressoes quantilicas e logisticas com separacao por genero e estrutura da familia. Os principais resultados sugerem a existencia de uma forte associacao entre o IMC dos pais e filhos, com o aumento da fracao de criancas obesas em cenarios familiares monoparentais e em lares em que ambos os pais sao obesos. Pela analise da elasticidade intergeracional quantilica, quanto maior a idade da crianca e o seu nivel de IMC, maior e o efeito intergeracional das condicoes de saude dos pais. Por fim, o papel da obesidade materna sobrepoe-se ao da paterna em termos de transmissao intergeracional da obesidade para os filhos, independentemente do genero.

Managerial Effort Under Asymmetric Information: The Case of Public Schools in Brazil

This paper uses a principal-agent model to investigate how public school managers react to government incentives based on previous school performance. Using data from the Brazilian Student Evaluation Exam (Prova Brasil -- PB) and the School Census, we estimate a managerial effort function by quantile regression. The findings show a regular non-linear relationship between managerial effort and lagged school performance, indicating that marginal effort is decreasing when a previously ineffective school manager becomes effective on reaching a performance goal. This evidence is in line with the adopted theoretical approach and provides new parameters for educational policies designs.

Estratégia Safe Choice sob menor Incerteza e Alocação Ineficiente no Ensino Superior Brasileiro (Safe Choice Strategy under less Uncertainty and Inefficient Allocation in Brazilian Higher Education)

Portuguese Abstract: Este estudo analisa como um mecanismo mais flexivel e com menor incerteza informacional para ingresso no ensino superior repercute no processo de alocacao das vagas. A hipotese a ser testada, e que sem a exigencia de um custo minimo pela decisao e mais informacoes disponiveis (posicao relativa atualizada) com opcoes restritas, entre cursos e instituicoes, ter-se-ia um estimulo ainda maior para adocao da estrategia safe choice, que resultaria em uma ampliacao da evasao dos cursos. Para tanto, sao usadas informacoes longitudinais de cerca de 6.000 estudantes de uma instituicao federal de ensino superior do Brasil, que foram selecionados por meio de dois processos distintos, em conjunto com as abordagens Mahalanobis matching e propensity score matching. Os resultados indicam que o sistema de admissao mais flexivel e com menos incerteza, independentemente dos modelos de pareamento, aumenta a taxa de evasao em cerca de 20% apos dois anos da entrada. Essas evidencias sao ratificadas, inclusive quando se avalia por diferentes niveis de habilidades, cursos e areas. Com esse maior nivel de desistencia, existe uma maior pressao sobre os custos por diplomado com a oferta do ensino superior publico, passando de R

Atratividade Do Mercado De Trabalho E Eficiência Dos Cursos De Economia No Brasil (Attractiveness of the Labor Market and Efficiency of Economics Courses in Brazil)

70,8 mil para R

COMPARAÇÃO ENTRE O CONTEÚDO DE NUTRIENTES NOS RÓTULOS DE ALIMENTOS ENRIQUECIDOS COM ÁCIDO FÓLICO E FERRO COM O ENCONTRADO NA TACO E NO SOFTWARE DIETWIN

86,5 mil ao ano.English Abstract: This study examines how a more flexible mechanism and less informational uncertainty for college admissions affects the allocation process of the courses. The assumed hypothesis is that without the requirement of a minimum cost by decision and more information (updated relative position) with constrained options, between courses and institutions, have would be an even greater incentive to adoption of safe choice strategy, resulting in an expansion of school dropout. Using longitudinal data about 6,000 students from a Brazilian federal university, selected through two distinct processes, and two technical approaches: Mahalanobis matching and propensity score matching. The results indicate that the more flexible college admissions system with less uncertainty, regardless of matching models, increase the school dropout by about 20% in two years after entry. This evidence is ratified, even when evaluating by different levels of skills, courses and areas. With this higher school dropout, there is greater pressure on the costs per graduate with the provision of public tertiary education from R

EFEITOS DA EXPOSIÇÃO AOS FATORES DE RISCO COMPORTAMENTAIS À SAÚDE SOBRE O ATRASO ESCOLAR NO BRASIL

70,800 to R

Medidas de transmissão intergeracional da obesidade no Brasil

86,500 per year.

AVALIAÇÃO DOS RESULTADOS EDUCACIONAIS DOS ALUNOS DAS ESCOLAS MUNICIPAIS DE JOÃO PESSOA-PB

Portuguese Abstract: Este artigo tem por objetivo examinar a eficiencia tecnica dos cursos de Economia no Brasil, explorando o papel das condicoes do mercado de trabalho sobre a produtividade relativa dos Departamentos. Para tanto, faz-se o uso do metodo de Analise Envoltoria de Dados com fronteira sequencial (DEA-S) e 1.000 replicacoes bootstrap para estimar os escores de eficiencia tecnica de mais de 150 Departamentos de Economia (DE) entre 2009 e 2012. Em um segundo estagio, as estimativas de eficiencia corrigidas de vies sao condicionadas a indicadores de atratividade do mercado de trabalho para o economista em um modelo de efeito fixo. Os resultados mostram que o nivel de eficiencia dos DE teve uma reducao de 19,8% no periodo, impulsionado, especialmente, por uma recomposicao na oferta de cursos entre as instituicoes publicas e privadas. No que concerne a hipotese central do estudo, constatou-se uma associacao positiva entre valorizacao da profissao nas regioes dos cursos e eficiencia dos DE.English Abstract: This article aims to investigate the technical efficiency of Economic courses in Brazil taking account the role of labor market conditions on the relative productivity of the Departments. We use Data Envelopment Analysis with sequential frontier (DEA-S) and 1,000 bootstrap replications to estimate the technical efficiency scores of over 150 Departments of Economics (DE) between 2009 and 2012. In a second stage, the efficiency with bias corrected is conditioned to the labor market attractiveness indicators for the economist in a fixed effect model. The finds show that the efficiency level of Departments was reduced by 19.8% in the period, driven especially by a recomposition in the supply of the course between public and private institutions. Regarding the central hypothesis of the study, we observe a positive relationship between the enhancement of career in the regions of courses and the DE efficiency.