First of all, I'm grateful for my family's unconditional support over all these years; without dedication and encouragement from my parents, Carlos Américo and Maria Lúcia, this project would be impossible. And for them, this thesis is dedicated. I'm also grateful for the guidance and affection from my grandparents João Alexandre (in memory), Sônia Maria, Samuel José (in memory), and Adir Machado. I'm grateful for the love and affection throughout this stressful period from my wife Giovana.I am thankful for the teaching and dedication from the professors of the Department of Economics of PUC-Rio, especially my advisor, Claudio Ferraz, for the generosity, and patience. His guidance was essential to the result of this thesis. I'm also thankful to professors Marcelo de Paiva Abreu, Gustavo Gonzaga, and Juliano Assunção for their comments, suggestions, and conversations. Even before my Ph.D., I was encouraged by many professors from my undergraduate and master's studies, therefore I'm grateful to Jorge Chami, Antonio Licha, Getúlio Borges, Rolando Otero, and Rudi Rocha. I'm also thankful to the professors Nico Voigtländer and William Summerhill for having me at UCLA during my research fellowship visit. The conversations in California's pleasant climate contributed a lot to my work.A special thanks to my friends from PUC-Rio, UFRJ, and CEFET for providing me moments of joy in my trajectory.Finally, I would like to thank the financial support from CAPES, CNPq, and Fulbright Brazil.
