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Abstract In spite of the negative overall representation of Brazilian secondary schools, the educational system at this level has shown remarkable quantitative developments. This paper proposes evolutionary paths of development of local secondary educational systems and addresses their determinants. It uses four schooling indicators - age specific enrollment ratio, gross enrollment ratio, net enrollment ratio, and age-grade distortion - conjointly with the use of cluster analysis to determine development trajectories. Furthermore, it analyses the main determinants of the evolutionary paths with the use of logistic and multinomial logistic models. Regional aspects related to socioeconomic level, labor market returns to human capital, demographics, social stability, location and microenvironment were associated with educational evolution. Resumo Apesar da representação em geral negativa das escolas de nível médio no Brasil, o sistema educacional brasileiro nesse nível apresentou um avanço quantitativo significativo. Esse artigo propõe trajetórias evolucionárias para o desenvolvimento de sistemas de ensino médio locais. São usados quatro indicadores educacionais - taxa de atendimento específico, taxa de escolarização bruta, taxa de escolarização líquida e distorção idade-série - de forma conjunta com o uso de análise de aglomerados para determinar essas trajetórias. Além disso, os determinantes dessas trajetórias são analisados com o uso de modelos logísticos. Verificou-se que aspectos regionais, socioeconômicos, de mercado de trabalho, demográficos, de estabilidades social e microambientais eram associados com a evolução educacional local.

Consumption of culture is a time intensive activity; therefore, individuals might face not only income constraints, but also time limitations to consume culture. In order to shed light on this topic, the paper combined two different databases to discuss time allocation and the consumption of cultural activities in Brazil. The results suggest that time availability is positively associated with cultural consumption. However, schooling levels and labor market participation are decisive determinants of cultural expenditure. Given these results, the low levels of culture consumption in Brazil are possibly more related to the lack of habit than specifically with the lack of time or monetary resources. Resumo: O consumo de cultura é uma atividade intensiva em tempo, de modo que as escolhas ligadas a esta ação são restritas tanto pela renda quanto pelo tempo disponível para o consumo. Este artigo combina duas bases de dados secundários, a Pesquisa de Orçamentos Familiares e a Pesquisa Nacional por Amostra de Domicílios, para discutir a alocação de tempo e o consumo de bens e serviços culturais no Brasil. Os resultados sugerem que a disponibilidade de tempo é positivamente correlacionada ao consumo cultural. No entanto, nível de escolaridade e participação no mercado de trabalho são determinantes decisivos do gasto em cultura. Dados esses resultados, os baixos níveis de consumo de cultura no Brasil são possivelmente mais relacionados à ausência de hábito que à ausência de tempo ou de recursos monetários.

Labor market literature attests that men tend to earn more than women in similar occupations in Brazil and elsewhere. However, some recent trends that have occurred in Brazil promote the narrowing of gender gaps in the labor market. This paper analyzes this issue empirically with the use of PNADs, Mincerian wage equations, and a hierarchical model based on the Age-Period-Cohort approach. We observed that gender wage gaps were shrinking and, although there might still be an unexplained advantage for men in the labor market, the evolution of women's endowments for the labor market and the decrease in labor market segregation significantly compensated for this difference. Due to these trends, after controlling for cohort differences, we observed non-significant gender wage gaps in some models. Resumo: Como comumente apontado pela literatura sobre as diferenças salariais por sexo, em geral, homens recebem mais que mulheres em ocupações similares. Entretanto, algumas tendências atuais no Brasil mostram que os hiatos no mercado de trabalho entre os gêneros estão diminuindo em diversos aspectos. Esse artigo analisa essa questão empiricamente fazendo uso de PNADs, equações Mincerianas e modelos hierárquicos baseados na abordagem Idade-Período-Coorte. Uma das conclusões principais do artigo é que apesar das mulheres terem salários menores que os homens para ocupações, locais de residência e níveis educacionais similares, os atributos femininos associados ao mercado de trabalho e a diminuição na segregação ocupacional parcialmente compensam essa vantagem não explicada dos homens. Além disso, depois de controlados os efeitos por coorte, observa-se uma convergência entre os gêneros e verifica-se que muitos dos hiatos são não significativos.

Tertiary education attendance in Brazil varies remarkably among different population groups. In order to decrease inequalities and increase the proportion of minorities in public universities, many institutions of higher education in Brazil have implemented affirmative action policies since the 2000s. The main objective of this paper was to analyze different counterfactual affirmative action policies at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) based on simulations, measuring the proportion of minorities and the level of academic performance at this institution under each scenario. The current quota policy of 50% for students from public secondary schools, divided between four main groups (non-poor/non-minority; poor/non-minority; non-poor/minority; poor/minority), was shown to be well-designed to promote higher proportions of minorities among the student body. However, if academic performance is also taken into account, the best options would be either a quota policy of 50% divided between poor and non-poor students or a bonus policy based on a linear function of course competitiveness with an average bonus of 6%. A proporção de indivíduos que frequenta a educação superior no Brasil varia de forma marcante entre os diferentes grupos da população. Como forma de diminuir a desigualdade no acesso à educação superior e aumentar a proporção de minorias na universidade públicas, muitas instituições de nível superior no Brasil implementaram políticas de ação afirmativa a partir de 2000. O objetivo principal desse artigo é analisar políticas contrafactuais de ação afirmativa na Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), a partir de simulações que mediram a proporção de minorias e o desempenho acadêmico nessa instituição. A atual política de 50% de cotas para estudantes do ensino médio público dividida em quatro grupos principais (não pobre/não negro; pobre/não negro; não pobre/negro; pobre/negro) se mostrou eficaz para promover a inclusão de maiores proporções de minorias na universidade. Entretanto, se o desempenho acadêmico é levado em conta, as melhores escolhas de políticas afirmativas seriam uma política de cotas de 50%, dividida entre pobres e não pobres, ou uma política de bônus baseada em uma função linear da competitividade do curso com bônus médio de 6%. Le nombre de personnes fréquentant l’enseignement supérieur au Brésil varie considérablement selon les groupes de la population. Afin de réduire les inégalités et d’augmenter le taux des minorités dans les universités publiques, de nombreux établissements d’enseignement supérieur ont mis en œuvre des politiques d’action positive depuis les années 2000. L’objectif principal de cet article est d’analyser les politiques d’action positive contrefactuelles à l’Université Fédérale de l’état de Minas Gerais (UFMG) sur la base de simulations qui mesurent le taux de minorités et la performance universitaire dans cette institution. En réservant 50% des places dans les universités fédérales aux élèves des écoles secondaires publiques, divisés en quatre groupes principaux (non pauvres/non minoritaires ; pauvres/non minoritaires ; non pauvres/minoritaires ; pauvres/minoritaires), la politique actuelle s’est avérée efficace pour promouvoir l’inclusion d’un plus grand nombre d’étudiants issus des minorités. Mais si la performance universitaire est prise en compte, tout indique que les politiques affirmatives les plus pertinentes seraient soit une politique de quotas de 50% répartie entre étudiants pauvres et non pauvres, soit une politique de bonus basée sur une fonction linéaire de la compétitivité des cours avec un bonus moyen de 6%.

The paper analyzes the determinants of apartments’ prices in Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil, with the use of hierarchical models, spatial models and a hierarchical-spatial approach. Besides the apartments’ characteristics, such as area, age and building standard, prices were determined by local urban amenities. The hierarchical models indicated that local variables, such as urban violence, infrastructure and services, explained over 75% of prices’ remaining variability. The spatial models analyzed if, after controlling for price variability with the explanatory variables in the second level of the hierarchical models, spatial correlations still existed in price determination. The positive and significant spatial coefficient in spatial autoregressive models (SAR) indicated spatial dependency. The hierarchical-spatial approach showed that over 70% of apartment prices’ remaining variability could be explained by local variables and that the lagged urban services variable explained another 12% of this variability.

This paper is based theoretically on the discussion presented by Florida, in particular two of his hypotheses. The first one states that the concentration of bohemians in an area signals an environment that attracts talented people. The second emphasizes that more tolerant societies are also more attractive to creative people. Firstly, I analyzed the distribution of skilled individuals in all metropolitan regions in Brazil. Moreover, I studied empirically these two hypotheses with the use of panel analyses. Levels of Bohemia, which were used as a proxi for the first hypothesis, were positively correlated with the proportion of skilled individuals in the locality. However, I did not observe any significant correlation between population diversity, the proxy for the second hypothesis, and local levels of skills. Lastly, I classified the metropolitan regions in Brazil with the use of cluster analyses in similar groups.

The impact of the Decision Support Systems (DSS) on the organizational intelligence and structure and on the strategic decisions was examined in the paper. Nowadays there is an increasing demand for investments on Information Technology (IT) due to the higher complexity of this field in the global market. Nevertheless, measurement of that perception, especially for the Brazilian reality, is little known. This study aims to analyze the relation between the use of DSS by executives of highest organization levels and their perceptions of the quality of information delivered, decision making speed, enhancements in organization learning and strategic management, and differences in involvement with subordinates. The theoretical model proposed by Leidner, Elam and Corrales (1995) and Leidner and Elam (1999), the main theoretical foundation of the paper, was adapted to the Brazilian reality and extended. We conducted a survey with executives of the 1200 biggest companies in Brazil, evaluating the executives’ perceptions. The main results of the paper confirmed past studies and added new dimensions to the benefits provided by the use of information systems, such as the organization learning principles and the strategic planning process. The paper contributes to the theoretical development of information systems and decision-making fields and with organization management, providing knowledge to support the evaluation of the values created by using Information Systems (IS).

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present deprivation in urban Brazil in a multidimensional perspective with dimensions related to household’s objective information, assets in the household, subjective evaluation concerning the dwelling and expenses. Design/methodology/approach – The author used factorial analysis applied to the Brazilian Household Budget Survey. Most dimensions showed a positive correlation with income, while for others it was not observed any significant difference between income ranges. Some types of deprivation specially touched low-income households, while other dimensions differentiated middle-income households, or even higher income households. The author applied a fuzzy perspective to define deprivation membership in each dimension with the use of a modified logistic function. The author observed that households with similar income faced different levels of deprivation in many dimensions. Findings – The author showed that there were significant differences in household’s expense preferences and profiles linked to these findings. Households with high levels of food deprivation relatively spend more on household’s rent, taxes and services, indicating that shelter and then food in the household are the very basic goods. Larger relative expenses with food in the household indicated higher levels of deprivation in all other dimensions, indicating that due to these higher food expenditures, the households could not overcome the deprivation in other dimensions. Households that spend more on smoke and gambling faced higher deprivation in most dimensions, suggesting different expenses priorities, less household oriented. Originality/value – To the best of the knowledge, this is the first attempt to link multidimensional deprivation and expenses profile for Brazilian data.

This paper is based theoretically on the discussion presented by Florida, in particular two of his hypotheses. The first one states that the concentration of bohemians in an area signals an environment that attracts talented people. The second emphasizes that more tolerant societies are also more attractive to creative people. Firstly, I analyzed the distribution of skilled individuals in all metropolitan regions in Brazil. Moreover, I studied empirically these two hypotheses with the use of panel analyses. Levels of Bohemia, which were used as a proxi for the first hypothesis, were positively correlated with the proportion of skilled individuals in the locality. However, I did not observe any significant correlation between population diversity, the proxy for the second hypothesis, and local levels of skills. Lastly, I classified the metropolitan regions in Brazil with the use of cluster analyses in similar groups. Adapted from the source document.

Nowadays millions of Brazilians live abroad; many send remittances to friends and relatives in Brazil. A sizable proportion of these individuals do return after a period abroad and they tend to return to somewhere close to or specifically to their origin. Most international migrants from Brazil return from just a few countries (Paraguay, United States and Japan) and the destiny of these flows are highly localized, and the same may occur with the remittances sent. We could not apprehend effectively this type of transfers from other types of earnings using the 2000 Brazilian Demographic Census data. Adapted from the source document.