This article estimates the monetary policy rule followed by the Brazilian Central Bank for setting its main policy instrument, the SELIC rate, for the period after the Real Plan. In order to overcome the uncertainty over the dates at which changes in parameters occurred, this paper uses...

This paper contrasts empirically four leading models of inflation dynamics - the accelerationist Phillips curve (APC), the new Keynesian Phillips curve (NKPC), the hybrid Phillips curve (HPC), and the sticky information Phillips curve (SIPC). We employ an encompassing Phillips curve...

The paper presents the main results produced by the People's Security Surveys applied in Argentina, Brazil and Chile in 2001. A comparative analysis across countries is developed, trying to point out the similarities and contrasts among behavioral patterns according to the notions of...

This study will analyze the determinants of environmental performance in the Brazilian industrial sector. It uses a database conducted by the Brazilian National Confederation of Industries inquiring about questions on environmental management over 325 medium and large firms referred to the year...

Regulation in the sanitation sector in Brazil is facing a great deal of debate regarding the government level in which conceding authority should reside and how private operators can fulfill social objectives. The main objective of this study is to show that these issues are not the crucial...

This article investigates the stochastic and dynamic relationship of a group of Brazilian macroeconomic variables (price and industrial production indexes, nominal exchange rate, short and medium-run nominal interest rates) for the period after the Real Plan (1996-2004). We adopt, as has become...

In this article we use the theory of conditional forecasts to develop a new Monetary Conditions Index (MCI) for Brazil and compare it to the ones constructed using the methodologies suggested by Bernanke and Mihov (1998) and Batini and Turnbull (2002). We use Sims and Zha (1999) and Waggoner and...

This study presents a preliminary estimate of user costs of forestland conversion for agricultural purposes for the period 1970-80 in Brazil. In this initial version, only loss in potential sustainable wood output is considered. However, the analytical framework adopted here can be extended to...

This paper aims at contributing to the debate regarding the role of the minimum wage in Brazil. This is carried out by assessing its potential effects on the labor market outcomes, as well in terms of poverty alleviation and fiscal impact. First, a succinct description of the institutional...