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81. The growth of Brazil's direct investment abroad and the challenges it faces

Author:
Luís Afonso Lima and Octavio de Barros
Publication Date:
08-2009
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
Abstract:
The internationalization of Brazilian companies is a relatively recent phenomenon. From 2000 to 2003, outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) averaged USD 0.7 billion a year. Over the four-year period 2004−2008, this average jumped to nearly USD 14 billion. In 2008, when global FDI inflows were estimated to have fallen by 15%, OFDI from Brazil almost tripled, increasing from just over USD 7 billion in 2007 to nearly USD 21 billion in 2008 (annex figure 1 below). Central Bank data put the current stock of Brazilian OFDI at USD 104 billion, an increase of 89% over 2003. Caution is in order about these figures, however, as in Brazilian outflows it is difficult to separate authentic FDI from purely financial investment under the guise of FDI. According to the most recent data, 887 Brazilian companies have invested abroad.
Topic:
Economics, International Trade and Finance, Markets, and Foreign Direct Investment
Political Geography:
Brazil and Latin America

82. Financial Diplomacy and the Credit Crunch: The Rise of Central Banks

Author:
Nicholas Bayne
Publication Date:
06-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of International Affairs
Institution:
School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
Abstract:
Economic diplomacy can be defined as the method by which states conduct their external economic relations. It embraces how they make decisions domestically, how they negotiate internationally and how the two processes interact. Economic diplomacy has been transformed in the last two decades with the end of the Cold War and the advance of globalization. Its subject matter has become much wider and more varied and it has penetrated more deeply into domestic politics—no longer being limited to measures imposed at the border. Internationally, it engages a far larger range of countries, including new rising powers like China, India and Brazil. Yet the relative power and resources of governments have been shrinking, so that they often seem to be trying to do more with less.
Topic:
Cold War and Economics
Political Geography:
China, India, and Brazil

83. Growing Pains in Latin America: An Economic Growth Framework as Applied to Brazil, Costa Rica, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru

Author:
Liliana Rojas-Suarez
Publication Date:
09-2009
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
Before the global economic crisis began in 2008, all countries in Latin America, long known as the world's most economically and financially volatile region, had experienced five consecutive years of economic growth, a feat that had not been achieved since the 1970s. Yet despite this growth, Latin America's incomeper-capita gap relative to high-income countries and other emerging-market economies widened, and poverty remained stubbornly high. Latin America, in short, suffered from growing pains even when things were going reasonably well.
Topic:
Economics and Emerging Markets
Political Geography:
Brazil, Colombia, Latin America, Mexico, Costa Rica, and Peru

84. Brazil's Rise as an Emerging Power: Implications for the U.S. and Europe

Author:
Stefan A. Schirm
Publication Date:
06-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Transatlantic Relations
Abstract:
The last 20 years have witnessed the economic emergence of several countries, which are considered today to be “pivotal states”, “regional powers”, and “emerging powers” in world politics. These emerging powers encompass countries such as China, India, Brazil and Russia, (the BRICs), which have in common both that they have experienced rapid economic growth and that they seek to influence the global economy and world politics to a greater degree than they did before their rise. The BRICs have become leading exporters and lenders (especially China to the US) as well as holders of currency reserves, and they (plus Mexico) are expected to surpass the GNP of the G7 industrialized countries by the year 2040. The reasons for the assignment of a new role, and often of increased power, to these states are their demographic and geographic size, their economic and military capacities, and their political aspirations.
Topic:
Economics, Emerging Markets, and Globalization
Political Geography:
Russia, United States, China, Europe, India, Brazil, and Latin America

85. Brazil in the Global Economy: Measuring the Gains From Trade

Author:
Sandra Polaski, Dirk Willenbockel, Eduardo Zepeda, Scott McDonald, Joaquim Bento de Souza Ferreir, Janine Berg, and Karen Thierfelder
Publication Date:
03-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Abstract:
Brazil's economic growth rate has been positive for the past eight years, after two decades of setbacks and extreme volatility. The country has once again been growing—for a sustained period—at rates that exceed its population growth, with average gross domestic product (GDP) growth per capita averaging 1.63 percent from 2000 to 2007. This exceeds average per capita GDP growth of 0.83 percent from 1980 to 1989 and 0.28 percent from 1990 to 1999, although it still falls well short of the 5.92 percent per capita growth rate from 1970 to 1979.
Topic:
Economics, International Trade and Finance, Labor Issues, and Governance
Political Geography:
Brazil and South America

86. Export Productivity and Specialization in China, Brazil, India and South Africa

Author:
Amelia U. Santos-Paulino
Publication Date:
03-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
This paper analyses the patterns of export productivity and trade specialization profiles in the China, Brazil, India and South Africa, and in other regional groupings. In doing so, the investigation calculates a time varying export productivity measure using highly disaggregated product categories. The findings indicate that export productivity is mainly determined by real income and human capital endowments. Importantly, the study reveals significant differences in the export productivity and specialization patterns of countries with comparable per capita income levels. For instance, China's export productivity and implied export sophistication is in line with that of countries with higher per capita incomes, including some OECD industrial economies.
Topic:
Economics and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:
Africa, China, India, Asia, South Africa, Brazil, and South America

87. Inflation and Financial Development: Evidence from Brazil

Author:
Manoel Bittencourt
Publication Date:
02-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
We examine the impact of inflation on financial development in Brazil and the data available permit us to cover the period between 1985 and 2002. The results – based initially on time-series and then on panel time-series data and analysis, and robust for different estimators and financial development measures – suggest that inflation presented deleterious effects on financial development at the time. The main implication of the results is that poor macroeconomic performance has detrimental effects to financial development, a variable that is important for affecting, for example, economic growth and income inequality. Therefore, low and stable inflation, and all that it encompasses, is a necessary first step to achieve a deeper and more active financial sector with all its attached benefits.
Topic:
Economics
Political Geography:
Brazil and South America

88. The BRICSAM Countries and Changing World Economic Power: Scenarios to 2050

Author:
Manmohan Agarwal
Publication Date:
10-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:
Rapid economic growth in the large developing countries collectively known as BRICSAM (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa and Mexico) has the potential to change the balance of economic power in the world. This paper analyzes this potential building on developments in these economies over the past four decades in the context of the evolution of the world economy. This evolution has two significant features: increasing economic integration and a hiatus in growth. Increasing integration can be observed in the almost universal rise in the share of the exports of goods and services in GDP, and the increase in private capital flows. There has been a hiatus in growth since the 1973-1974 increase in the price of oil.
Topic:
Economics, Globalization, International Political Economy, and International Affairs
Political Geography:
Russia, China, India, South Africa, Brazil, and Mexico

89. Why the Code of Conduct for Resolving Sovereign Debt Crises Falls Short

Author:
Barry Herman
Publication Date:
03-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The New School Graduate Program in International Affairs
Abstract:
The Institute of International Finance, a bankers group, has promoted its “Principles for Stable Capital Flows and Fair Debt Restructuring” as a code of conduct for debtor governments and their private creditors to avoid and if necessary resolve sovereign defaults. Although drafted with Brazil, Korea, Mexico and Turkey, I argue this purely voluntary code is excessively creditor friendly. Instead, a more balanced code should be developed in a broad, open and politically legitimate forum, and be coupled with an international disciplining mechanism that pushes creditors and debtor to a negotiated outcome under the code. A suggested approach concludes the paper.
Topic:
Development, Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:
Turkey, Brazil, Korea, and Mexico

90. Brazil: Keeping the Lights On

Author:
Susana Moreira
Publication Date:
09-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Journal of Diplomacy and International Relations
Institution:
School of Diplomacy and International Relations, Seton Hall University
Abstract:
In 2001, Brazil endured severe power shortages that resulted in mandatory rationing and ultimately, in a significant reduction of GDP growth. Worse than the personal inconvenience and economic contraction was the embarrassment all Brazilians felt for what had happened. The “country blessed by God” had shown the world, once again, that it was unable to put its vast natural resources to good use. Brazil barely escaped forced electricity rationing; however, there is widespread belief among energy experts that rationing may yet occur within the next four years.
Topic:
Economics
Political Geography:
Brazil