Structural changes in the Brazilian economy 1990–2015

Abstract

This paper analyses the structural changes in the Brazilian economy from 1990 to 2015 by applying structural decomposition analysis (SDA). The production structure of emerging economies is an important field of research because it enables the assessment of sectoral policies and technological progress to support sustained economic growth in the long-term. The investigation described here was conducted using input–output matrices for a short and long-term analysis which enabled us to verify the importance of twelve aggregate sectors regarding changes in production, final demand and technological coefficients. This topic could be used for such analyses in any other country. The results indicate that the production structure of Brazilian economy remains fragile and dependent on demand shocks for its growth. Furthermore, manufacturing industry remains the major sector capable of promoting structural changes in production.

KEYWORDS:

• Structural decomposition analysis
• Brazilian economy
• technological change

JEL Classifications:

• C67
• O33
• O40

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the editor Michael Lahr and the journal's reviewers for all their suggested contributions. We gratefully acknowledge research funding granted by the Brazilian National Council of Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), and the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 In addition, among the studies on sectoral structural change and economic growth through SDA, Dietzenbacher (2000), Linden and Dietzenbacher (2000), Dietzenbacher et al. (2004), Savona and Lorentz (2006), Dietzenbacher et al. (2007), Harada (2015), Kristkova et al. (2017), and Giovanini and Arend (2017) addressed global perspectives on technological change, final demand composition, growth in intermediate goods consumption etc.

2 For further details on the SNA-2008, reading the ‘System of National Accounts 2008’ by the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, the United Nations and the World Bank is essential.

3 Portuguese acronym for National Confederation of Trade in Goods, Services and Tourism.

4 According to UNCTAD (2014), commodities represented 65% of the value of Brazilian exports. The appreciation of the Real against the US Dollar continued until the end of 2014, pointing to signs of stagnation in Brazil’s economic growth.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by the Bahia State Support Foundation of Research Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado da Bahia (FAPESB). Luiz Carlos de Santana Ribeiro gratefully acknowledge the financial support from National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), Brazil.