The dissertation consists of three essays. The first one is an econometric essay on inflation stabilization in Brazil during a period of successive unsuccessful stabilization attempts. The impact on relative prices and the desirability of income policies to fight inflation are addressed. A...

The analysis undertaken in this study is motivated by the new economic environment faced by Brazil's industry since the early 1990s. In addition to the set of price stabilization policies that the country had already been struggling with during the 1980s, major economic reforms towards a greater...

Traditional neoclassical microeconomic theory views the production function as a "black box" where homogenous inputs go in and output comes out. Differences in labor productivity between firms are mainly due to technological constraints facing the firm.

Over the last several decades, manufacturers in the developed countries have adopted organizational techniques collectively referred to as lean production. An essential element of the lean production model is the specialization and decentralization of production decisions throughout the supply...