Publications /
Paper in Academic Journals

Back
Read more
Regional Disparities
Authors
Eduardo Amaral Haddad
Carlos R. Azzoni
October 1, 2018
Related topics: 
Economy
Americas and Carribean
South America

This chapter analyzes the emergence of disparities in income and development levels between Brazil’s main regions, in particular the gap that exists between the comparatively rich South and Southeast and the poorer North and West regions. Economic activity and the population are concentrated in a small part of the territory. Even within this reduced area, the geographical distribution is highly uneven. Besides concentration, regional inequalities are marked in the country in terms of per capita income, education, access to public services, and so on. This scenario of concentration and inequality is quite persistent, as the data available indicate. We conclude with a discussion of regional policy, both intended and unintended. The present levels of inequality shows the failure of the traditional place-based regional policies implemented in the past. The people-based policies implemented in recent decades have been the most effective way of reducing regional inequality.

RELATED CONTENT

  • Regional differences in the economic impact of lockdown measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19: A case study for Colombia
    Authors
    Eduardo Amaral Haddad
    Gerson Javier Pérez Valbuena
    Diana Ricciulli
    Jaime Bonet
    Inácio Araújo
    Fernando Perobelli
    December 28, 2021
    This paper analyses the regional economic differences in the impact of lockdown measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 ordered by Colombia’s national gov­ernment. Using an input-output model, we estimate regional economic losses by extracting a group of formal and informal workers from different sectors of the economy. Results show regional differences in the impact of lockdown measures on their labour markets, local economies, and productive sectors. We also find that periphera ...
  • AD 2021: The new challenge for Latin America with the new pandemic variants
    December 22, 2021
    The new challenge for Latin America with the new pandemic variants: Regional unity in a context of political polarization At the beginning of the global health crisis, Latin America was immersed in multiple changes in ideological and political trends in different countries. In a world t...
  • Could the U.S. and China Spoil Latin America’s Rebound?
    Authors
    Otaviano Canuto
    November 5, 2021
    A slowdown in China and winding down of U.S. stimulus threaten a much-needed regional rebound. First appeared at Americas Quarterly The last year has seen some good news for Latin American economies. The region’s recovery has been stronger than expected, and growth forecasts by the World Bank and IMF have improved since six months ago. Vaccination campaigns and fiscal support have sparked an economic rebound since the second half of last year, despite an apparent loss of momentum ...
  • Climate change in Brazil: dealing with uncertainty in agricultural productivity models and the implications for economy-wide impacts
    Authors
    Bruno Souza
    Eduardo Amaral Haddad
    June 18, 2021
    This paper estimates the economic impacts of climate change over the Brazilian regions until the end of the century. We estimate the direct and indirect impact of the projected changes in climate on the yield of the country’s main crops. The results point to a broad spatial heterogeneity of impacts across the country. Using the extreme scenarios created by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (RCP 2.6 and 8.5), our predictions indicate that the average annual losses ...
  • Global Recovery May Not Be Enough for Latin America: Three risks threaten another economic and social lost decade for the region
    Authors
    Otaviano Canuto
    Pepe Zhang
    Otaviano Canuto
    June 7, 2021
    First appeared at AMERICAS QUARTERLY A growing global imbalance threatens to further weaken already vulnerable emerging markets. The massive vaccine disparities between advanced and developing economies may exacerbate what the IMF has dubbed “divergent recoveries”—with dire consequences for Latin America. Despite being home to only 8% of the world’s population, the region has already suffered nearly 30% of all global COVID-19 deaths. The pandemic has also hit GDP and employment ha ...
  • Download PDF
    Brazil Agriculture—Response and resilience of food security under dual shocks in 2020: Oil price collapse and the COVID-19 pandemic
    Authors
    Isabelle Tsakok
    Fatima Ezzahra Mengoub
    March 3, 2021
    Brazil, an oil-exporting nation, was still struggling to recover from the depression which started around 2014/15 when it was hit by a quick succession of shocks: the COVID-19 pandemic and the oil price collapse. The global pandemic triggered major economic dislocations and contractions in foreign and domestic markets, which further exacerbated the fall in demand for oil, sending world prices tumbling further. Poverty was already widespread in Brazil pre-pandemic. And despite recen ...
  • Happy New Year?
    Authors
    Uri Dadush
    December 23, 2020
    This article was originally published on Bruegel  A recovery from the COVID-19 recession is underway though the suffering is far from over, especially for the most vulnerable. Inequality is both a consequence of the pandemic and a cause of its severity. Many countries need comprehensive policy change to address its worst effects. At the end of a tragic year marked by pandemic and increased poverty, the miraculously rapid arrival of vaccines stirs great hope. The COVID-19 recession ...
  • The internal geography of services value-added in exports: A Latin American perspective
    Authors
    Eduardo Amaral Haddad
    Inácio F. Araújo
    December 18, 2020
    We estimate the contents of services value-added incorporated in goods exports in different countries in Latin America, exploring the local dimension of the results. We use inter-regional input–output analysis to trace and map domestic value-added embedded in those countries' exports. We add to the discussion of global value chains the internal, within-country geography of trade in value-added, since the set of locational preferences that help understanding the spatial patterns of n ...
  • Download PDF
    Brazil at a Post-Pandemic Macroeconomic Crossroads
    Authors
    Otaviano Canuto
    Márcio Issao Nakane
    Otaviano Canuto
    December 17, 2020
    Brazil is one of the countries hardest hit by COVID-19. Apart from the dramatic health implications, COVID-19 will also scar the Brazilian economy, including through a jump in its already high public-sector debt-to-GDP ratio in 2020. Moving forward—or not—with structural reforms aimed at lifting private investment will define whether a sustainableor unsustainable—growth-cum-debt trajectory will prevail in the next decade. The extent to which Brazil regains its attractiveness for for ...
  • Middle-Income Countries Should not be Rushed to Graduate
    Authors
    Otaviano Canuto
    December 14, 2020
    This article has originally been published on OECD Development matter platform Many donor countries seem eager to see middle-income countries (MICs) “master out” and graduate to a non-client status in multilateral development institutions before fully achieving their development potential. We argue that such institutions can still significantly contribute to the sustainable development of MICs, while also seizing many benefits from this relationship (Middle income countries and mul ...