Silveira Neto R. Da M. and Azzoni C. R. Non-spatial government policies and regional income inequality in Brazil, Regional Studies. This paper uses both macro- and micro-data to analyse the role of social programmes in the recent reduction in Brazilian regional income inequality. Convergence indicators are presented for different sources of regional income in the period 1995–2006. A decomposition of the Gini indicator allows the identification of the role of each of these income sources with respect to the reduction of regional inequality during the period. The results point out that both labour productivity and government non-spatial policies – mainly minimum wage changes and income transference programmes – do have a role in explaining regional inequality reduction during the period. Silveira Neto R. Da M. et Azzoni C. R. Les politiques gouvernementales non-spatiales et l'écart des revenus régionaux au Brésil, Regional Studies. Cet article emploie des données à la fois macroéconomiques et microéconomiques afin d'analyser le rôle des programmes d'actions sociales quant à la baisse récente de l'écart des revenus régionaux au Brésil. On présente des indicateurs de convergence pour diverses sources des revenus régionaux pour la période allant de 1995 à 2006. Une décomposition du coefficient de Gini permet d'identifier le rôle de chacune de ces sources des revenus par rapport à la baisse de l'écart des revenus pendant cette période. Les résultats indiquent que la productivité du travail et les politiques gouvernementales non-spatiales – notamment la modification du salaire minimum et les programmes visant le transfert des revenus – ont un rôle à jouer pour expliquer la baisse de l'écart des revenus régionaux pendant la période en question. Convergence Productivité du travail Transfert des revenus Salaire minimum Effets spatiaux des politiques non-spatiales Silveira Neto R. Da M. und Azzoni C. R. Nicht räumliche Regierungspolitiken und das regionale Einkommensungleichgewicht in Brasilien, Regional Studies. In diesem Beitrag analysieren wir mit Hilfe von Makro- und Mikrodaten die Rolle von sozialen Programmen bei der unlängst erzielten Verringerung des regionalen Einkommensungleichgewichts in Brasilien. Wir stellen Konvergenz-Indikatoren für verschiedene regionale Einkommensquellen im Zeitraum von 1995 bis 2006 vor. Eine Dekomposition des Gini-Indikators ermöglicht die Identifizierung der jeweiligen Rolle dieser Einkommensquellen für die Verringerung des regionalen Ungleichgewichts im betreffenden Zeitraum. Die Ergebnisse weisen darauf hin, dass sowohl die Produktivität der Arbeitskräfte als auch die nicht räumlichen Regierungspolitiken – in erster Linie Veränderungen beim Mindestlohn und Programme für Einkommenstransfers – als Gründe für die Verringerung des regionalen Ungleichgewichts in dieser Periode durchaus eine Rolle spielen. Konvergenz Arbeitsproduktivität Einkommenstransfer Mindestlohn Räumliche Auswirkungen nicht räumlicher Politiken Silveira Neto R. Da M. y Azzoni C. R. Políticas gubernamentales no espaciales y desigualdades de ingresos regionales en Brasil, Regional Studies. En este artículo utilizamos datos macro y micro para analizar el papel de los programas sociales en la reciente reducción en las desigualdades de ingresos regionales de Brasil. Presentamos los indicadores de convergencia para diferentes fuentes de ingresos regionales en el periodo de 1995 a 2006. Una descomposición del índice Gini permite identificar el papel de cada una de estas fuentes de ingresos con respecto a la reducción de las desigualdades regionales durante este periodo. Los resultados destacan que tanto la productividad laboral como las políticas no espaciales del gobierno – principalmente los cambios de salario mínimo y los programas de transferencias de ingresos – desempeñan una función a la hora de explicar la reducción de las desigualdades regionales durante este periodo. Convergencia Productividad laboral Transferencias de ingresos Salario mínimo Efectos espaciales de políticas no espaciales

In this note we provide evidence on the importance of location for the growth of per capita income of Brazilian states over the period 1985–2001. The study presents strong evidence of spatial dependence, and that regional inequality reduction occurred simultaneously with increasing spatial autocorrelation. The analysis of local indicators of spatial association confirmed that conclusion, showing the existence of two geographical clusters, one of low income states in the Northeast and North regions, and another of rich states in the Southeast and South regions. The low value for the convergence coefficient, in conjunction with the strong influence of shocks in the residuals, indicate the existence of a very sensible dynamic pattern of convergence across Brazilian states, which helps explaining the well documented persistence in regional income disparities in Brazil. After conditioning on other important variables that could affect growth, however, spatial dependence disappears. We have thus identified two potential channels through which the strong spatial dependence in the process of convergence of per capita income of Brazilian states occurs.

The expansion of sugarcane growing in Brazil, spurred particularly by increased demand for ethanol, has triggered the need to evaluate the economic, social, and environmental impacts of this process, both on the country as a whole and on the growing regions. Even though the balance of costs and benefits is positive from an overall standpoint, this may not be so in specific producing regions, due to negative externalities. The objective of this paper is to estimate the effect of growing sugarcane on the human development index (HDI) and its sub-indices in cane producing regions. In the literature on matching effects, this is interpreted as the effect of the treatment on the treated. Location effects are controlled by spatial econometric techniques, giving rise to the spatial propensity score matching model. The authors analyze 424 minimum comparable areas (MCAs) in the treatment group, compared with 907 MCAs in the control group. The results suggest that the presence of sugarcane growing in these areas is not relevant to determine their social conditions, whether for better or worse. It is thus likely that public policies, especially those focused directly on improving education, health, and income generation/distribution, have much more noticeable effects on the municipal HDI.

Este trabalho teve por objetivo avaliar o nível de atividade do agronegócio da agricultura familiar no Brasil, para o período de 1995 a 2003. Através dos Modelos de Insumo-Produto foi possível estimar a importância do Produto Interno Bruto do agronegócio familiar no contexto nacional. Concretamente, os resultados demonstram que cerca de 1/3 do agronegócio brasileiro advém da produção agropecuária realizada pelos agricultores familiares, cabendo observar, também, que o desempenho recente da agropecuária familiar e de todo o complexo a ela articulada vem sendo bastante positivo, superando, inclusive, as taxas de crescimento relativas ao segmento patronal.