Brazil

During the last century, Brazil was one of the fastest growing economies in the world. Between 1901 and 2000, Brazil's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita grew at... Show More + an average annual rate of 4.4 percent. Brazil's long-run growth has rivaled that of counties such as South Korea, universally praised as a stellar performer. Brazil does not received the same praise. Perhaps one reason is that more has been expected of Brazil, especially by Brazilians themselves. After all the country is richly endowed with natural resources and is blessed with an energetic people. Perhaps is that economic growth in Brazil has been more erratic than in other countries, or it may be that this economic growth performance has been accompanied by high inequality, thus diminishing the "quality" of growth. How is it that the country with the fastest growth in the region also has the highest inequality? Are the two facts related, and if so, what can be done to improve the pattern of future income growth across the social classes, and reduce its extreme inequality and the breadth and depth of its poverty? The first volume summarizes the overall conclusions for policy drawn from the seven background papers presented in the second volume, and other relevant research, as well as giving a historical account of the driving forces behind Brazilian growth since the 1960s. Show Less -

This report aims to analyze key aspects of the low-income housing sector in Brazil, and to provide an analytical framework for reviewing alternatives to addressing the... Show More + lack of adequate formal housing and urban services for the poor. It addresses four fundamental questions for policymakers in the housing sector in Brazil: First, should the government be involved in policy interventions in the low-income segment of the housing market? Second, if policy action is appropriate, what roles should policymakers at the federal, state, and municipal levels play? Third, should the government's key interventions in the market be focused on the supply, or demand side of the market? Finally, how can the government structure a comprehensive policy to deal with the failure of the housing market to provide adequate shelter for the poor? The report begins with a brief outline of the nature, and extent of the low-income housing problem, describes the policies in place to address the lack of housing, suggests a methodological framework for assessing the paucity of low-income housing in light of international experiences, and identifies the main building blocks of a strategy for low-income housing in Brazil. There are four main reasons why a considerable backlog in housing persists: (a) low-income levels; (b) high supply costs; (c) market failures; and (d) distortions in public policy. Considering low-income housing directions, we need to refer to: Access to Land; Access to Finance; Appropriate Standards; Basic Infrastructure Provision; Targeted Subsidies; and, Inclusion and Partnership. Ensuring that the above elements are incorporated in future low-income housing initiatives requires important new directions necessary to further facilitate an enabling approach. Reforms are advocated in the areas of policy, institutions, and regulations; moving away from limited, project-based approaches, adopting the enabling principle. This new approach may not have a monopoly on wisdom, nor does it have all the answers needed for the complex, difficult problem of housing the urban poor, but it does provide the most promising way forward if the problem is to be addressed at a scale commensurate with its magnitude, and adequate to improve substantially the housing conditions of the poor. Show Less -

This report, conducted jointly by researchers in Brazil and at the World Bank, aims to address the debate on how the Brazilian labor market functions. It does so not... Show More + by focusing on labor market functioning but on its outcomes. What is central are labor market outcomes, such as adequate employment growth so that job-seekers can find gainful employment, acceptable worker productivity levels that are fairly compensated, and reasonable income security for workers and their households. This report is structured as follows: Chapter 1 argues that labor laws have begun to show signs of obsolescence. Chapter 2 shows this is reflected in deteriorating outcomes. Key indicators--employment growth, labor force participation, unemployment rates, and income security--all point to worsening labor market functioning since the mid-1990s. The report then examines how changed macroeconomic circumstances call for changes in labor market institutions, regulations, and interventions. Using a characterization of the economy in which informality has a central role, Chapter 3 illustrates the correspondence between the three main macroeconomic phenomena of the 1990s--greater openness, stabilization, and fiscal adjustment--and Brazil's labor market priorities. Chapter 4 concludes that the labor market has signaled the shortage of educated workers since the 1990s, and the onus is now on the education and training systems to respond. Analysis of how Brazil's labor market functions in Chapter 5 points to evidence that indicates that Brazil's poorer workers and smaller firms are especially disadvantaged by how the labor market functions. The report identifies three sets of priorities for reform: changes in mandated non-wage benefits and minimum wage setting to price labor correctly and encourage empoloyment growth (Chapter 6), changes in severance legislation and functioning of labor courts to better align incentives and increase productivity (Chapter 7), and improvements in interventions to increase income security for all workers (Chapter 8). Chapter 9 summarizes and highlights the main policy implications. Volume 2 contains in-depth examination of the issues of interest in Brazil and the relevant international experience, on which Chapters 1 through 8 of the first volume are based. Show Less -

The health care system in Brazil has established the important principle of universal coverage, yet, it faces several key challenges: its expenditure patterns favor... Show More + the regions that are already better off, and healthier, and, needs to take into account diverse practices, and cultures, in addition to considerations for the weak referral system. The report focuses on the health care system, particularly on enhancing maternal and prenatal health, certain health care interventions, such as immunizations, oral rehydration therapy, and case management. Chapter 1 argues that the major reason for the maternal and child health risks is the concentration of illness and death among the poor : infant mortality rates jump 80-100 percent from the next to lowest income quintile, to the lowest. Several interventions, such as strategies to promote productivity, increase economic opportunities, and enhance maternal education among the poor, could help reduce inequalities. Chapter 2 uses estimates of avoidable child deaths to prioritize health interventions in the country, and, Chapter 3 argues that the federal government programs in women and children's health could be expanded by prioritizing on failed expenditure patterns, improving referral systems, and emphasizing the importance of utilizing nutrition education. Chapter 4 makes policy recommendations on sector goals, suggests basic actions to achieve such goals, and provides measures to improve the quality of care, and evaluation. Show Less -

The report, which documents findings of a review on gender issues in Brazil, during 1999, and updated in 2001, is responsive to the recognition of gender as an important... Show More + issue in increasing socioeconomic well-being, and reducing poverty. The review examines gender in terms of demographic trends, health indicators, the effects and causes of violence, education indicators, labor market trends, and social protection. It identifies gender issues across sectors, with a view to improving the Bank's efficiency, and effectiveness, in reducing gender inequities that affect both women, and men, though discussion on male gender issues is limited. Major findings indicate that mortality rates linked to external factors (i.e., traffic accidents, homicide, suicide), differ greatly by gender; pre-natal care for pregnant women continues to be inadequate; violence continues to be high; teaching methods tend to reinforce gender segregation; and, early childhood, and education programs remain poor. Recommendations include the need for changing societal gender roles, by acting on gender issues through community, and local level organizations, but targeting men as well as women, since male issues, such as violence and under performance in school, among others, may be attributed to men's narrowly defined gender roles, while effective women's programs, often require men's implicit, or explicit cooperation, and involvement. Show Less -

This report finalized in March 2001 constitutes a step toward the objective of designing an integrated strategy for rural poverty reduction in Brazil, The report contains... Show More + an updated and more detailed profile of the rural poor in the northeast (NE) and southeast (SE) of Brazil; identifies key determinants of rural poverty in these regions; and proposes a five-pronged strategic framework in which to couch a set of integrated policies that could effectively help to reduce rural poverty in Brazil. This tentative set of policy options was identified via an analysis of rural poverty determinants complemented with an evaluation of relevant current public programs and six in-depth thematic studies that bear on critical components of the proposed integrated policy approach aimed at reducing rural poverty in the NE and SE of Brazil: 1) the dynamics of the Brazilian small farm sector, 2) rural labor markets, 3) rural land markets, 4) rural non-farm employment, 5) rural education, and 6) rural pensions. While this study emphasizes primarily microeconomic events--such as the impact of schooling, income transfers, and access to land and credit--poverty reduction requires both economic growth (macro-level) and specific anti-poverty policies (micro-level). Show Less -

The study selectively looks at the complex set of issues surrounding the effectiveness of Brazil's teachers, in the context of the "ensino fundamental" program changes,... Show More + and examines the key stages of the teacher career, i.e., preparation, professional entry, and professional development - as they cut across the policy dimensions of quality assurance, management, and incentives. Chapter I analyzes the key reforms, and demographic trends which are reshaping the macro environment for Brazil's teachers, as well as the legal, and financial impacts on teacher compensation, and certification. Chapter II looks at the evidence of teacher quality, and performance, by analyzing the national achievement test scores, which show a continuing wide divergence in student learning across regions, and between state, and municipal systems. Chapters III and IV focus on teacher preparation, and teacher management respectively, recommending a close focus on school leadership - criteria and processes. Chapters V and VI look at teacher professional development, and compensation issues. The final chapter maps the overall strategy which should include the following key policy areas: quality assurance, teacher professional development, management, and incentives, suggesting roles and responsibilities for the Government, prioritizing on further research across finance, planning, and education. Show Less -

The report focuses on preschool, as an effective early childhood development (ECD) intervention, especially for improving the status of the poorest groups in Brazil's... Show More + population. Because of data limitations, the focus is primarily on pre-schooling, with some discussions on day care, and other services for the younger age group (0-3 years). Although the country is now out of the economic recession of the late 1990s, and, has laid the basis for an economic growth free of inflation, nonetheless, substantial development imbalances still need to be addressed. This will require sustained economic growth, and a range of policy interventions that affect the broad structure of the economy, therefore, this study looks at the impact of ECD, particularly preschool, in redressing these distortions. The main structural dimensions of access to pre-schooling are higher enrollments among older children, showing that enrollments - eight percent in the 0-3 age group - were seen to be particularly low in comparison with industrialized nations, though similar to other Latin American countries; that enrollments are lower in the mid-west, south, and north of the country in comparison to the northeast, and southeast, with the largest rural-urban disparities in the mid-west, and southeast; and, that the richest ten percent of the population account for fifty six percent of access to preschool, while only twenty four percent of the poorest forty percent, attend these services. Findings suggest a strengthened preschool financing, improved access to the poorest, and combined preschool services with other ECD services. Show Less -

This report explores alternative ways to finance municipal capital expenditures while maintaining macroeconomic stability and fiscal discipline. It tries to estimate... Show More + the financing effort that municipalities will need to make in order to meet the demand for infrastructure services over the next five to 10 years, taking into account the municipalities' expected resources from local taxes, user charges, and intergovernmental transfers. The report is organized into six chapters. The introduction describes the overall problem, main issues, methodology, and analytical framework. Chapter 2 explains the context under which municipalities operate, and it identifies the main financial trends in the sector. Chapter 3 discusses how to increase municipal current savings to enable municipal governments to finance investment and leverage borrowing. Chapter 4 focuses how to ensure that the existing municipal credit systems operate efficiently, that municipalities with "good" projects find adequate long-term financing, and that credit is allocated more by market rules and less by political factors. Chapters 5 and 6 discusses how to support the involvement of the private sector in the financing of municipal infrastructure and in helping the transition toward less regulated credit systems. Show Less -

The first central message of this report is that Brazil has over the last years achieved great progress in its social policies and indicators. The second central message... Show More + is that poverty remains unacceptably high for a country with Brazil's average income levels. The worst remaining income poverty is mostly concentrated in the Northeast region, and in the smaller urban and rural areas. The third central message is that, with decisive action, Brazil can achieve ambitious targets for further improvements in social indicators, including the objective of reducing the rate of extreme income poverty by 50 percent by the year 2015. Poverty is a complex and multi-dimensional phenomenon. Recognizing the rich literature on poverty in Brazil, this report attempts a few specific contributions. First, it presents a new 1996 poverty profile with a breakdown by city size, incorporation of the imputed value of owned housing, and regional price deflators. Second, it provides analysis of the incidence of selected public social spending based on the 1996/7 "Pesquisa sobre Padroes da Vida (PPV)." Third, it selectively synthesizes other work on poverty in Brazil in order to present an overview of cross-sectoral comparisons of the effectiveness of policy interventions. Fourth, it provides suggestions and selective inputs for devloping a national poverty reduction strategy. The report updates a previous World Bank assessment (report no. 14323) and builds on earlier work on urban poverty strategy. Show Less -