Publication: Brazil - Growth and Poverty Reduction in Rio Gande Do Norte: A State Economic Memorandum
Loading...
Date
2004-01-16
ISSN
Published
2004-01-16
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
Brazil was the fastest growing country in the world between 1930 and 1995, with an average annual growth rate of 6.1 percent. By 2000, Brazil's per-capita income stood at R$6,500. While RN's per capita income is slightly above half the national average, it increased from 43 percent of the national average in 1947 to 47 percent in 1998, implying that RN's economy grew faster than that of Brazil for over half a century. This has also been true in recent years. Between 1990-1998, RN's income per capita showed a respectable trend growth rate of 3.0 percent. The close relationship between Brazil's economic growth and RN's economic progress in the last five decades reflects a response to common macroeconomic forces and external environment as well as the enormous influence of national policies and programs on RN's economy. However, the state can also implement policies and programs to stimulate growth and employment. For this purpose, an understanding of trends in state GDP and employment and of the sources of growth is important. RN's economy has undergone a rapid and welcome transformation from one dependent on salt, cotton, sugar, and cattle to one dominated by services. The service sector has increased its share of GDP from 40 percent in 1985 to 59 percent in 1998. Over this period, the share of industry declined from 50 to 34 percent and the share of agriculture fell from 9 to 7 percent, though its share of total employment remains relatively high at 18 percent, reflecting lower productivity of agricultural workers. The shares of services and industry in total employment are 53 and 29 percent, respectively.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“World Bank. 2004. Brazil - Growth and Poverty Reduction in Rio Gande Do Norte: A State Economic Memorandum. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/14683 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Brazil - Poverty Reduction, Growth, and Fiscal Stability in the State of Ceara : A State Economic Memorandum, Volume 1. Policy Report(Washington, DC, 2000-08-21)Although the State of Ceara, in Brazil, is a model of good economic, and fiscal performance given its poverty status, recent analysis show poverty remains severe, in spite of significant reductions over the last decade. The combination of good governance, and sound fiscal management, industrial promotion, and public investments have been successful, but the report questions whether different policies, could have led to higher growth, and poverty reduction, or, whether it is simply a matter of time to further reduce poverty rates. Arguably, Ceara can continue to develop economically, based on favorable assets, such as agriculture, or tourism, on a large labor force with wages comparatively low by Brazilian standards, and on fiscal responsibility. But development is constrained by low productivity, low education levels, and by large populations living in stagnant regions, where water accessibility is limited. While alternatives either suggest to: strengthen the existing policy on industry development; focus on massive public investments, namely education, and infrastructure; or, exercise an explicit welfare strategy, recommendations stipulate improvements in education, development of public-private partnerships, removal of industrial incentives through reform policies, implementation of institutional framework for water resource management, and, overall social safety nets to reduce poverty.Publication Brazil - Piaui State Economic Memorandum : Managing a Natural Inheritance(Washington DC, 2003-07-31)This report represents a snapshot of a dialogue between the State of Piaui and the World Bank and focuses on the strategies and actions the State Government may wish to adopt. Piaui's challenge is to build institutions that address its weaknesses and exploit its strengths. Addressing weaknesses implies continuing with efforts to improve education, raising productivity in small-scale agriculture, increasing public participation in government decisions, and enhancing the administration of taxation and spending. Exploiting strengths implies fortifying the management of land, water, and natural resources, carefully selecting strategic infrastructure investments, and recognizing and taking strategic decisions to "get ahead of the environmental frontier" in several parts of the state. Based on the relevant geographical traits of Piaui, three chapters are devoted to the geographical regions: the cerrados, the semi-arid southeastern region, and the north of the state. The report relates cross-cutting institutional themes (a) the revised role of the State in Piaui, (b) fiscal aspects including taxation and spending, (c) options in education, and (d) an outline of action plan for building participatory mechanisms for consultation between government and civil society. The conclusion gives a general framework of strategic options for poverty reduction in Piaui including the Bank's suggestions of priorities, timescales, and approximate costs where possible.Publication Dynamics of Rural Growth in Bangladesh(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2016-05-17)The rural economy in Bangladesh has been a powerful source of economic growth and has substantially reduced poverty, especially since 2000, but the remarkable transformation and unprecedented dynamism in rural Bangladesh are an underexplored, underappreciated, and largely untold story. The analysis identifies the key changes occurring in the rural economy, the principal drivers of rural incomes, the implications for policy, and related actions to foster future growth, further reduce poverty, and improve food security and nutrition. A substantial strength of this study is its empirical foundation, consisting of three sets of detailed data on rural households. Two of the datasets are unique in tracking the same set of households for more than two decades. These data make it possible to examine how change is occurring within and among rural households; they shed considerable light on trends that tend to be obscured at more aggregate levels of analysis. Nationally representative surveys and aggregate secondary data provide complementary and contextually rich insights into the household data.Publication Mozambique : Country Economic Memorandum, Sustaining Growth and Reducing Poverty(Washington, DC, 2005-09)Mozambique has staged a dramatic recovery from the damage of the civil war, improving infrastructure nearly to pre-war levels; reducing poverty from 69 to 54 percent; growing the economy by 8 percent annually between 1996 and 2003; expanding the agricultural, tourism construction and manufacturing sectors; and attracting mega-projects in aluminum smelting, natural gas, and titanium mining, and this tripling exports. Another factor which was a precondition for all of the above is the fact that the country was successful in bringing about reconciliation, ending the civil war, and in managing potential conflicts since that time. Mozambique has just had its third general and presidential election. Nevertheless the country remains poor, infrastructure is inadequate, there are serious unmet education and health needs, and poverty rates remain high. This Memorandum examines the growth-poverty linkage, using a wide variety of data sources, including the recently completed national household survey (2002/3). It has sought to understand the sources of growth in the recent past, to evaluate the prospects for growth in the next decade, to examine the likely implications for poverty, and to outline the policies that will be needed to achieve further growth and poverty reduction. The Country Economic Memorandum also examines the relevance of natural resource management to growth and poverty objectives.Publication Battles Half Won(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2008)Rapid growth since 1980 has transformed India from the world's 50th ranked economy in nominal U.S. dollars to the 10th largest in 2005. The growth of per capita income has helped reduce poverty. At the same time, evidence suggests that income inequality is rising and that the gap in average per capita income between the rich and poor states is growing. This paper reviews India's long term growth experience with a view to understanding the determinants of growth and the underlying political economy. The paper looks specifically at the political economy of India's growth transformation from a low-growth environment (pre-1980s) to a rapid-growth environment (post 1980s) and asks how sustainable is this transformation in view of concerns about regional disparity and income inequality. The paper concludes that the pledge that India's post-independence leadership had undertaken to abolish mass poverty remains only partially redeemed. Half the battle still lies ahead. Many more would like the fruits of the economic boom to come to them. The greatest challenge for India's policy makers today is to balance the growth momentum with inclusionary policies.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication World Development Report 1994(New York: Oxford University Press, 1994)World Development Report 1994, the seventeenth in this annual series, examines the link between infrastructure and development and explores ways in which developing countries can improve both the provision and the quality of infrastructure services. In recent decades, developing countries have made substantial investments in infrastructure, achieving dramatic gains for households and producers by expanding their access to services such as safe water, sanitation, electric power, telecommunications, and transport. Even more infrastructure investment and expansion are needed in order to extend the reach of services - especially to people living in rural areas and to the poor. But as this report shows, the quantity of investment cannot be the exclusive focus of policy. Improving the quality of infrastructure service also is vital. Both quantity and quality improvements are essential to modernize and diversify production, help countries compete internationally, and accommodate rapid urbanization. The report identifies the basic cause of poor past performance as inadequate institutional incentives for improving the provision of infrastructure. To promote more efficient and responsive service delivery, incentives need to be changed through commercial management, competition, and user involvement. Several trends are helping to improve the performance of infrastructure. First, innovation in technology and in the regulatory management of markets makes more diversity possible in the supply of services. Second, an evaluation of the role of government is leading to a shift from direct government provision of services to increasing private sector provision and recent experience in many countries with public-private partnerships is highlighting new ways to increase efficiency and expand services. Third, increased concern about social and environmental sustainability has heightened public interest in infrastructure design and performance. This report includes the World Development Indicators, which offer selected social and economic statistics for 132 countries.Publication Impact Evaluation in Practice, Second Edition(Washington, DC: Inter-American Development Bank and World Bank, 2016-09-13)The second edition of the Impact Evaluation in Practice handbook is a comprehensive and accessible introduction to impact evaluation for policy makers and development practitioners. First published in 2011, it has been used widely across the development and academic communities. The book incorporates real-world examples to present practical guidelines for designing and implementing impact evaluations. Readers will gain an understanding of impact evaluations and the best ways to use them to design evidence-based policies and programs. The updated version covers the newest techniques for evaluating programs and includes state-of-the-art implementation advice, as well as an expanded set of examples and case studies that draw on recent development challenges. It also includes new material on research ethics and partnerships to conduct impact evaluation. The handbook is divided into four sections: Part One discusses what to evaluate and why; Part Two presents the main impact evaluation methods; Part Three addresses how to manage impact evaluations; Part Four reviews impact evaluation sampling and data collection. Case studies illustrate different applications of impact evaluations. The book links to complementary instructional material available online, including an applied case as well as questions and answers. The updated second edition will be a valuable resource for the international development community, universities, and policy makers looking to build better evidence around what works in development.Publication Inovar Auto(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2017-11)Brazil's automotive industry is unwell. Productivity and trade performance are low, consumer prices are high, local companies are bit players both at home and abroad, and innovation is almost nonexistent. The cumulative (opportunity) costs of Brazil's protectionist automotive policies, which have been in place in some form since the 1950s – while immeasurable – are certainly very high. However, it is not accurate to say that they have failed, since Brazil would probably not have an automotive industry today without them, at least not one that employs nearly 500,000 workers in the manufacturing sector. According to the most recent figures, 89 percent of vehicles sold in Brazil were produced in the country, and very recently, exports have surged to 30 percent of production. However, Brazil has a large trade deficit in automotive parts and components and finished vehicle exports are volatile, used mainly as a 'pressure relief valve' during downturns in the domestic market. Local content figures are not available, signaling a major flaw in the accountability and transparency of Brazil’s automotive industrial policy regime.Publication Digital Progress and Trends Report 2023(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-03-05)Digitalization is the transformational opportunity of our time. The digital sector has become a powerhouse of innovation, economic growth, and job creation. Value added in the IT services sector grew at 8 percent annually during 2000–22, nearly twice as fast as the global economy. Employment growth in IT services reached 7 percent annually, six times higher than total employment growth. The diffusion and adoption of digital technologies are just as critical as their invention. Digital uptake has accelerated since the COVID-19 pandemic, with 1.5 billion new internet users added from 2018 to 2022. The share of firms investing in digital solutions around the world has more than doubled from 2020 to 2022. Low-income countries, vulnerable populations, and small firms, however, have been falling behind, while transformative digital innovations such as artificial intelligence (AI) have been accelerating in higher-income countries. Although more than 90 percent of the population in high-income countries was online in 2022, only one in four people in low-income countries used the internet, and the speed of their connection was typically only a small fraction of that in wealthier countries. As businesses in technologically advanced countries integrate generative AI into their products and services, less than half of the businesses in many low- and middle-income countries have an internet connection. The growing digital divide is exacerbating the poverty and productivity gaps between richer and poorer economies. The Digital Progress and Trends Report series will track global digitalization progress and highlight policy trends, debates, and implications for low- and middle-income countries. The series adds to the global efforts to study the progress and trends of digitalization in two main ways: · By compiling, curating, and analyzing data from diverse sources to present a comprehensive picture of digitalization in low- and middle-income countries, including in-depth analyses on understudied topics. · By developing insights on policy opportunities, challenges, and debates and reflecting the perspectives of various stakeholders and the World Bank’s operational experiences. This report, the first in the series, aims to inform evidence-based policy making and motivate action among internal and external audiences and stakeholders. The report will bring global attention to high-performing countries that have valuable experience to share as well as to areas where efforts will need to be redoubled.Publication Great Teachers : How to Raise Student Learning in Latin America and the Caribbean(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2015)The seven million teachers of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) are the critical actors in the region's efforts to improve education quality and raise student learning levels, which lag far behind those of OECD countries and East Asian countries such as China. This book documents the high economic stakes around teacher quality, benchmarks the current performance of LAC's teachers, and delineates the key issues. These include low standards for entry into teacher training, poor quality training programs that are detached from the realities of the classroom, unattractive career incentives, and weak support for teachers once they are on the job. New research conducted for this report in close to 15,000 classrooms in seven different LAC countries - the largest cross-country study of this kind to date - provides a first-ever insight into how the region's teachers perform inside the classroom. It documents that the average teacher in LAC loses the equivalent of one day of instructional time per week because of inadequate preparation, excessive time on administration (taking attendance, passing out papers) and a surprisingly high share of time physically absent from the classrooms where they should be teaching. Teachers also make limited use of available learning materials, espcially those using information and communications technology (ICT), and are unable to keep the majority of their students engaged. The book sets out the three priority lines of reform needed to produce great teachers in LAC: policies to recruit better teachers; programs to groom teachers and improve their skills once they are in service; and stronger incentives to motivate teachers to perform their best throughout their career. In every area, the book distills the latest evidence from inside and outside the region to provide practical guidance to policymakers in the design of effective programs and sustainable reforms. A final chapter analyzes the politics of recent major teacher reforms in Chile, Peru, Ecuador and Mexico, chronicling the prominent role of teachers' unions and the political and communications strategies that have underpinned successful reforms.