Eduardo de Carvalho Andrade

Income convergence clubs for Brazilian Municipalities: a non-parametric analysis

This article analyses the evolution of relative per capita income distribution of Brazilian municipalities over the period 1970–1996. Analyses are based on non-parametric methodologies and do not assume probability distributions or functional forms for the data. Two convergence tests have been carried out – a test for sigma convergence based on the bootstrap principle and a beta convergence test using smoothing splines for the growth regressions. The results obtained demonstrate the need to model the dynamics of income for Brazilian municipalities as a process of convergence clubs, using the methodology of transition matrices and stochastic kernels. The results show the formation of two convergence clubs, a low income club formed by the municipalities of the North and Northeast regions, and another high income club formed by the municipalities of the Center-West, Southeast and South regions. The formation of convergence clubs is confirmed by a bootstrap test for multimodality.

Effects of the brazilian university policy of targeting the poor

Este trabalho analisa, teoricamente, os efeitos do Programa Universidade para Todos (ProUni), introduzido pelo governo federal do Brasil no ano de 2005, sobre a qualidade da forca de trabalho formada nas universidades privadas. Esse programa concede isencao fiscal para as universidades privadas que, em contrapartida, fornecem bolsas de estudo para alunos provenientes de familias de baixa renda. A analise sugere que a qualidade da forca de trabalho pode aumentar ou diminuir dependendo de duas variaveis-chave: o formato da curva de oferta do setor universitario e o nivel de preparacao para cursar a universidade dos bolsistas vis-a-vis aos nao-bolsistas.

Transparência: Bacen versus BoE

Transparency: Bacen versus BoE. The aim of this paper is to compare the degree of transparency of the Brazilian Central Bank (Bacen) with the one verified in the Bank of England (BoE). In order to accomplish this objective, an indicator of transparency is built based on the information that each central bank provides to the public about its monetary policy, its expectation about the future of the economy, its intervention in the financial market, and if there are clear limits and restrictions to the release of information to the general public. The analysis suggests that the Bacen is less transparent and has a less individualistic Monetary Policy Committee in comparison with the BoE. Moreover, it indicates some procedures that could be adopted by the Bacen in order to make its monetary policy more transparent.