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on Central and South America |
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Issue of 2005‒12‒01
four papers chosen by |
| By: | Rodrigo Sekkel; Denisard Alves |
| Abstract: | The purpose of the present study is to identify the effects of monetary policy and macroeconomic shocks on the dynamics of the Brazilian term structure of interest rates. We estimate a near-VAR under the identification scheme proposed by Christiano et al. (1996, 1999). The results resemble that of the US economy: monetary policy shocks flatten the term structure of interest rates. Nevertheless, we find that monetary policy shocks in Brazil appear to explain a significant larger share of the dynamics of the term structure than in the USA. Finally, we also study the importance of standard macroeconomic variables, as GDP, inflation and specially, a measure of country risk for the dynamics of the term structure in Brazil. The empirical evidence allows us to infer that as the Brazilian term structure of interest rates increase its maturities, the more important will macroeconomic shocks be to its determination. |
| JEL: | E53 |
| Date: | 2005 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:anp:en2005:027&r=lam |
| By: | Enlinson Henrique Carvalho Mattos |
| Abstract: | This paper combines poverty considerations in the social welfare function and tax evasion into an optimal general income tax problem. It investigates the optimal audit and tax structures using a model with two types of individual, endogenous labor supply and a hybrid social welfare function that captures the pluralism of the objectives of a full committed government. The results confirm the previous literature on tax evasion: (i) skilled households should never be audited and face any distortions in the labor supply, (ii) unskilled households have to be audited randomly (probability less than one) and (iii) Individuals should be rewarded if telling the truth about their income. In addition, the introduction of poverty concern as a negative externality brings new characteristics for the optimum income tax on poor: (iv) they may (or not) face negative marginal income tax. Also, a numerical example is provided to further explore the model. |
| JEL: | H42 H21 H31 H23 |
| Date: | 2005 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:anp:en2005:044&r=lam |
| By: | Carine Milcent; Jack Huguenin; Danielle Carusi-Machado |
| Abstract: | In Brazil, even though school participation is compulsory for children between 7 to 14 years old, some of them are not enrolled in the education system. One of the main reasons is their participation to the work market that may have an impact on their health. Moreover, child's school attendance in public schools usually insures a meal to child but for children working, they have to accumulate two journeys: school and job. So, child's health could be explained by both, school attendance and work market participation. In addition, problems related to school attendance and school progress could be related to child work or his health. Therefore, we cannot explore determinants of one of these components school attendance, health and child work without studying their interactions. In this paper, we use the database Living Standards Measurement Study Survey 1996/1997 (Pesquisa de Padrões de Vida - PPV) to look at this interactions. It appears that child's labor and school attendance have a very strong correlation. School attendance has a negative impact in child's probability to participate in labor market. For instance, child ´s labor market affects negatively child ´s probability to evaluate his health as good and excellent. We also note that school attendance does not have a significant impact in child ´s health evaluation. The main conclusion of our article is that the development of human capital should consider together health and education. A policy focusing only in education, as incentives to go to school, does not seem to be sufficient to improve child's health. Also, government should also consider the population at risk, as children from poor families, living in worse conditions and obliged to work. |
| JEL: | I12 J13 J18 J24 |
| Date: | 2005 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:anp:en2005:173&r=lam |
| By: | Mauricio A. Hernández; Munir A. Jalil B.; Carlos Esteban Posada |
| Abstract: | Los ciclos económicos colombianos de la segunda mitad del siglo XX implicaron considerables variaciones en los agregados reales de la economía. A partir de un modelo con tecnología de producción AK y una función de producción de bienes de capital que presenta retornos decrecientes para la inversión, se calculó el costo de las fluctuaciones económicas en términos de consumo y bienestar de las familias. Según nuestros resultados, bajo estabilidad económica la tasa de crecimiento de largo plazo del consumo per cápita se habría incrementado entre 0,13 y 0,47 puntos porcentuales, pasando de 1,4% por año, en el escenario fluctuante, a una tasa en el intervalo 1,53% -1,87% anual. De acuerdo con diferentes niveles de la elasticidad intertemporal de sustitución del consumo, la compensación necesaria para hacer que las familias obtuvieran un mismo bienestar bajo los dos escenarios (fluctuante y estable) equivaldría, en promedio, a 4,7% del consumo inicial. |
| Keywords: | fluctuaciones, |
| JEL: | D61 |
| Date: | 2005–10–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000070:001440&r=lam |