IMF Working Papers

Structural Reform Priorities for Brazil

By Nina Biljanovska, Damiano Sandri

October 8, 2018

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Nina Biljanovska, and Damiano Sandri. Structural Reform Priorities for Brazil, (USA: International Monetary Fund, 2018) accessed November 12, 2024

Disclaimer: IMF Working Papers describe research in progress by the author(s) and are published to elicit comments and to encourage debate. The views expressed in IMF Working Papers are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the IMF, its Executive Board, or IMF management.

Summary

Over the last few decades, Brazil has experienced relatively weak economic growth due to stagnant productivity. To boost productivity, Brazil should embark on an ambitious structural reform process. In doing so, it is crucial that authorities select a few reform priorities to avoid dispersing political capital on an overly broad reform agenda. The paper aims to identify Brazil’s reform priorities in two steps. First, it estimates the impact that different reforms have on Brazil’s productivity. Second, it analyzes survey data to assess the extent of public support for reforms. The results show that banking sector reforms would generate the largest productivity gains and have the highest level of public support. Moreover, they would also be relatively easy to legislate and generate significant fiscal savings.

Subject: Commercial banks, Financial institutions, Labor, Labor market reforms, Macrostructural analysis, Production, Productivity, Structural reforms, Total factor productivity

Keywords: Banking sector reform, Brazil, Commercial banks, Economic growth, Global, Labor market reforms, Legal system, Monopoly power, Political economy, Productivity, Productivity gain, Reform priority, State intervention, Structural reform, Structural reforms, Total factor productivity, WP

Publication Details

  • Pages:

    22

  • Volume:

    ---

  • DOI:

    ---

  • Issue:

    ---

  • Series:

    Working Paper No. 2018/224

  • Stock No:

    WPIEA2018224

  • ISBN:

    9781484376331

  • ISSN:

    1018-5941