This paper aims to examine the effects of trade openness on the output volatility in different sectors of manufacturing industry between 1996 and 2008. To do so, we use data of 18 sectors for 13 years, estimating an econometric model using a panel dataset by GMM. The results show that the...

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the origins of a critical process in the North American economy before the subprime crisis, namely, the increasing debt of households. It is argued that causes of this indebtedness are alterations in income distribution (an increased concentration of...

In this paper we investigate the macroeconomic and welfare effects of recent proposals to reduce the tax burden on the production sector in Brazil. We evaluate two specific policy measures: a) the replacement of social security taxes with a consumption tax; and b) the provision of tax incentives...