In this paper, published in the American Economic Review, Bustos, Caprettini and Ponticelli (2016) study the effects of the adoption of new agricultural technologies on structural transformation.
Moser and Engbom (2021) show that a rise in the minimum wage accounts for a large decline in earnings inequality in Brazil since 1994. To this end, they combine rich administrative and survey data with an equilibrium model of the Brazilian labour market.
In all modern bureaucracies, politicians retain some discretion in public employment decisions, which may lead to frictions in the selection process if political connections substitute for individual competence.
The introduction of labor-saving technologies in agriculture can release workers who find occupation in the manufacturing sector. The traditional view is that this structural transformation process leads to economic growth.
Colonnelli and Prem (2019) estimate the causal real economic effects of a randomized anticorruption crackdown on local governments in Brazil over the period 2003-2014.
In this paper, published in the American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, Alvarez, Benguria, Engbom and Moser (2018) document a large decline in earnings inequality in Brazil between 1996 and 2012.
Bazzi, Muendler and Rauch (2017) use new data on credit transactions and formal firms in Brazil to identify the effects of a large-scale expansion in credit for small and medium enterprises.
Bustos, Garber and Ponticelli (2016) study the allocation of capital across regions, sectors and firms. In particular, they assess to what extent growth in agricultural productivity can lead to an increase in the supply of credit in industry and services.
