Efficient Financial Allocation and Productivity Growth in Brazil

Abstract

The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encourage the exchange of ideas about development issues. An objective of the series is to get the findings out quickly, even if the presentations are less than fully polished. The papers carry the names of the authors and should be cited accordingly. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/World Bank and its affiliated organizations, or those of the Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent.

Global Productivity: Trends, Drivers, and Policies

“…The subregion was deeply affected by the commodity price slump and country-specific constraints in large economies. TFP growth in South America was continually negative during 2013-18, in part reflecting growing directed credit in Brazil (Calice, Ribiero, and Byskov 2018;Dutz 2018). It also reflected intensifying economic distortions (such as trade restrictions and price controls) in Argentina during the early part of the period, which allowed unproductive firms to survive.…”

Raising productivity through structural reform in Brazil

“…Productivity levels differ widely across firms within the same sector, and these differences are persistent. Empirical evidence on this exists for both manufacturing and services sectors (Vasconcelos, 2017[9]; De Vries, 2014 [10]; Busso, Madrigal and Pagés, 2013 [11]). It is often the less productive firms within a sector that enjoy large market shares (Gomes and Ribeiro, 2015 [12]; OECD, 2015 [13]).…”