Tracking individual workers across jobs after Brazil's trade liberalization in the 1990s shows that tariff cuts trigger worker displacements, but neither exporters nor comparative-advantage sectors absorb trade-displaced labor. On the contrary, exporters separate from significantly more and hire fewer workers than the average employer. Trade liberalization increases transitions to services, unemployment, and out of the labor force. Results are consistent with faster labor productivity growth than sales expansions so that output shifts to more productive firms while labor does not. Higher rates of failed reallocations and longer durations of complete reallocations result, associated with a costly incidence of idle resources.

The empirical determinants of happiness in Brazil. This paper investigates the role that economic variables play in the determination of happiness, using reported happiness as a proxy to individual well-being. We use microdata extracted from the World Values Survey for five countries, emphasizing the Brazilian case. Our findings suggest that there is a positive and significant correlation between happiness and income. Unemployment is also a large source of unhappiness. In most cases, happiness appears to be positively correlated to being married. Moreover, happiness is apparently U-shaped in age (minimizing at 50`s).

Este trabalho compara as diferenças de rendimentos entre os homens e as mulheres no Brasil e nos Estados Unidos, utilizando a decomposição de Oaxaca. O rendimento médio das mulheres, no Brasil, era equivalente a 68% do rendimento dos homens em 1981, mas em 1996 já equivalia a 80%. Nos EUA, essa razão era de 66% em 1981 e passou para 78% em 1996. No Brasil, as características das mulheres são superiores às dos homens e a diferença salarial ocorre devido a um menor rendimento associado à idade das mulheres. Nos EUA, as características dos homens e das mulheres são similares e o retorno à idade também explica grande parte do diferencial de salários. Isto pode ocorrer se a idade das mulheres não refletir sua experiência no mercado de trabalho, devido a suas decisões de fecundidade, e algumas evidências são mostradas neste sentido.
This paper compares the male and female earnings differentials in Brazil and in the United States, using Oaxaca's methodology. Female wages were equivalent to 68% of male wages in 1981, and to 80% in 1996. In the USA, this ratio was 66% in 1981 and 78% in 1996. In Brazil, female characteristics alone would cause a positive earnings differential, but these are counter-weighted by the lower returns to age. In the USA, male and female characteristics are similar and the return to age also explains a substantial part of the earnings gap. This could happen if female age does not accurately reflect labor market experience, due to fertility decisions, and some evidence is provided confirming this hypothesis

O objetivo deste texto é investigar os principais determinantes dos gastos em P&D no Brasil. Utilizamos neste trabalho a base de dados da ANPEI sobre indicadores de capacitação e inovação tecnológica no Brasil, abrangendo o período de 1994 a 1998. Conciliamos esta base de dados com várias técnicas econométricas, visando garantir robustez aos resultados. Os resultados encontrados mostram que os gastos em P&D se comportam como um random walk, e que firmas maiores gastam menos em P&D como proporção do seu faturamento bruto. Nas equações para os determinantes de P&D, o investimento em capital físico é a variável mais importante, indicando uma forma de complementaridade entre os dois tipos de investimento. Finalmente, a margem de lucro líquida parece não ter influência nos gastos em P&D, que parece ser um investimento de mais longo prazo.
This paper aims at examining the determinants of R&D expenditures in Brazil. We use a new database (from ANPEI) with firm level information on R&D and other technological expenditures from 1994 to 1998, and several econometric techniques. The results show that R&D expenditures follow a random walk and that larger firms spend proportionally less in R&D. The main determinant of R&D seems to be investments in physical capital, which indicates some form of complementarity between the two types of investment. Finally, profitability does not seem to be an important determinant of R&D expenditures in Brazil, suggesting that long-term determinants are more important

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