We test the assumption that the relation between sexual activity and wage is nonlinear, considering that the impact of sex on productivity and therefore on wage occurs during a certain interval of times which one cannot perceive if discrimination is not done. In other words, we must use...

This article investigates the effects of fiscal policy shock in the Brazilian economy using quarterly data during the period between January/1995 and December/2007. We follow the agnostic procedure suggested by Monford and Uhlig (2005) to verify separately the impact of the unexpected positive...

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...

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 paper uses Brazilian quarterly data to estimate the impact of taxes over GDP per capita. The econometric results show a negative and statistically significant impact of the overall tax burden over per capita GDP. In average, an increase of 1 percent in the overall tax burden decreases GDP...

This paper evaluates the effect of a change in the quantity of money on relative prices in the U.S. economy based on quarterly time-series for the period of 1959 to 2013. We also estimate the implication of a change in relative prices on the rate of inflation and macroeconomic variables. The...

Forest burning stands as a highly used practice in the Brazilian Amazon Forest. Burning trees is the cheapest way to expand agricultural frontiers in the Amazon region. Nevertheless, the smoke generated in this process can produce undesirable negative effects, in particular health-induced...

Unlike the work of Hamermesh and Biddle (1994) where personal appearance is linked to subjective factors such as beauty, this work tries to focus more objectively, relating appearance to certain physical characteristics such as weight, height, and physical disability which can influence an...

The objective of this study is to shed light on the determinants of criminality rates in Brazil. A panel data model was estimated using Brazilian states’ data. Our main result suggests that income inequality plays an important role in the determination of the crime rate. Furthermore, there are...

The literature on regional trade agreements points out two main effects: trade criation and trade diversion. While the former refers to the substitution of less efficient producers for more efficient ones due to the global protection, the latter captures the substitution of the more efficient...