Desenvolvimento regional no Brasil : as transformações econômicas no período de 1985 a 2007

Abstract

The present master s thesis examines regional economic transformations in Brazil resulting from changes in the global and Brazilian post 1985 economy. The theoretical base highlights conceptual changes on regional development, including new models of regional development, new locational trends of economic activities, and the peculiarities of the Brazilian economy for these new models. Empirical research and data analysis is divided into two stages. The first stage examines historical processes of regional economic concentration and deconcentration in Brazil. The second stage examines post-1985 data and interprets recent regional economic transformations. Analysis and interpretation of the data corroborate phenomenon already underway in recent Brazilian regional dynamics, namely: 1) regional deconcentration processes of the previous decade (1975-85) continue, but with less momentum, 2) the opening of Brazil to international trade had negative impacts on the Southeast region and positive effects on the South and Center-West regions, 3) there is a deconcentration of investments in the durable goods sector, mostly in wages, and unlike this trend, there is a concentration of investments, primarily in the Southeast region, in sectors with high technological potential, 4) investments were concentrated over the 1990s in two regions (South and Southeast) and in six states (Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, Parana, Rio Grande do Sul and Bahia), 5) analysis on a sub-regional scale reveals the presence of dynamic locations in all regions and that relevant Industrial Agglomerations, classified in Brazil as Local Productive Arrangements, are associated with the profile and structure of the locality.