Exploring the Relationship between Productivity and Trade in Brazil
Open Access
Author:
Stretton, Paul Samuel
Area of Honors:
Economics
Degree:
Bachelor of Science
Document Type:
Thesis
Thesis Supervisors:
James R. Tybout, Thesis Supervisor Bee Yan Roberts, Thesis Honors Advisor
Keywords:
Productivity Trade Economics Brazil
Abstract:
Beginning in the late 1980s, Brazil began the rapid implementation of trade liberalization. Tariffs fell drastically opening up previously protected sectors of the economy. This paper looks at the period directly following the reforms of the 1990s which also witnessed continued liberalization and increased trade. By examining firm-level data for 2001 and 2007 with fixed effect regression analysis, this paper investigates the relationship between productivity and trade. The results show that the effect of trade on firms’ efficiency is generally insignificant.
