Explore the vast range of titles available.

Brazil has a variety of plans and categories of supplementary retirement funds that are offered by many financial institutions. However, a lot of these invest-ments have high administration and performance fees, which diminishes its fi-nancial returns. With that in mind, this study analyzed the historical returns of these investments at the periods of 2011 to 2018 and 2016 to 2018, with the objective of assess the quality of the open private retirement’s funds of the country. The obtained results pointed that the open supplementary retirement funds had low performance compared to the market indicators at the accumulated profita-bility analysis at the period of 2011 to 2018. Although, at the shorter term, a largest share of funds of all categories presented accumulated results lower than the Brazilian Government bonds.

Japanese Brazilian Saudades explores the self-definition of Nikkei discourse in Portuguese-language cultural production by Brazilian authors of Japanese ancestry. Ignacio López-Calvo uses books and films by twentieth-century Nikkei authors as case studies to redefine the ideas of Brazilianness and Japaneseness from both a national and a transnational perspective. The result suggests an alternative model of postcoloniality, particularly as it pertains to the post-World War II experience of Nikkei people in Brazil. López-Calvo addresses the complex creation of Japanese Brazilian identities and the history of immigration, showing how the community has used writing as a form of reconciliation and affirmation of their competing identities as Japanese, Brazilian, and Japanese Brazilian. Japanese in Brazil have employed a twofold strategic, rhetorical engineering: the affirmation of ethno-cultural difference on the one hand, and the collective assertion of citizenship and belonging to the Brazilian nation on the other. López-Calvo also grapples with the community's inclusion and exclusion in Brazilian history and literature, using the concept of \"epistemicide\" to refer to the government's attempt to impose a Western value system, Brazilian culture, and Portuguese language on the Nikkeijin, while at the same time trying to destroy Japanese language and culture in Brazil by prohibiting Japanese language instruction in schools, Japanese-language publications, and even speaking Japanese in public. Japanese Brazilian Saudades contributes to the literature criticizing the \"cognitive injustice\" that fails to acknowledge the value of the global South and non-Western ways of knowing and being in the world. With important implications for both Latin American studies and Nikkei studies, it expands discourses of race, ethnicity, nationality, and communal belonging through art and narrative.

This article analyses the growth of the Brazilian book market in the decade from 2004 to 2013 and compares it to Brazil’s GNP growth. It also studies the recent developments of three factors that should contribute to the performance of the Brazilian book industry: the growth of the middle class, the decrease of functional illiteracy and the higher number of college institutions and college students in the country. This article shows that despite these factors, the Brazilian book industry is underperforming and not living up to its potential.

Abstract This article analyzes the factors that affect local governments’ decision-making processes on whether to engage in cooperative agreements through intermunicipal consortia. Several studies have examined this issue in Western developed countries, but there is a gap in the literature regarding the phenomenon in the developing world. The research addresses this gap and observes the Brazilian local governments’ policies on waste services, focusing on cooperative agreements such as interlocal consortia. These arrangements may be a solution to the political and managerial challenges of providing public services in many areas, including waste collection, treatment, and disposal. However, it is still unclear what factors influence municipalities in their decision to cooperate. Based on cross-sectional research exploring 963 Brazilian municipalities and on the perspective of Institutional Collective Action, this study identified characteristics of communities, transaction characteristics of goods, and the structure of policy networks that influence the local governments in their decision to work cooperatively. The findings shed light on the field of public policies, particularly those carried out through intermunicipal consortia. Resumen Este artículo analiza los factores que influyen en los municipios en su toma de decisiones sobre la prestación de servicios públicos de residuos por medio de consorcios. Varios estudios abordaron esa cuestión investigando países occidentales y desarrollados, pero existe una laguna en la literatura que explora el fenómeno en países en desarrollo como Brasil. Por lo tanto, este estudio selecciona los gobiernos locales de Brasil y analiza su política de recolección y tratamiento de residuos, con foco en la prestación de servicios públicos a través de acuerdos cooperativos, particularmente, consorcios intermunicipales. Estos pueden ser una solución para los desafíos políticos y gerenciales relacionados con la gestión de residuos sólidos y la prestación de otros servicios públicos. No obstante, aún no está claro qué factores influyen en los gobiernos locales para adoptar esa estrategia. El estudio utilizó un enfoque transversal aplicado a una muestra de 963 municipios y adoptó la perspectiva de la acción colectiva institucional, identificando las características de la comunidad, las características transaccionales de los bienes, y la estructura de las redes de políticas públicas, que influyen en la toma de decisiones de los gobiernos locales para cooperar. Los resultados tienen implicaciones en las políticas públicas que adoptan acuerdos de cooperación intermunicipales en Brasil. Resumo Este artigo analisa os fatores que influenciam os municípios em sua tomada de decisão sobre a prestação de serviços públicos de resíduos por meio de consórcios. Vários estudos abordaram essa questão pesquisando países ocidentais e desenvolvidos, mas há uma lacuna na literatura que explora o fenômeno em países em desenvolvimento como o Brasil. Este estudo, portanto, seleciona os governos locais no Brasil e analisa sua política de coleta e tratamento de resíduos, com foco na prestação de serviços públicos por meio de acordos cooperativos, particularmente consórcios intermunicipais. Os consórcios intermunicipais podem ser uma solução para os desafios políticos e gerenciais em torno do gerenciamento de resíduos sólidos e da prestação de outros serviços públicos. No entanto, ainda não está claro quais fatores influenciam os governos locais a adotar essa estratégia. O estudo utilizou uma abordagem transversal aplicada a uma amostra de 963 municípios e adotou a perspectiva da Ação Coletiva Institucional, identificando as características da comunidade, as características transacionais dos bens, e a estrutura das redes de política pública, que influenciam a tomada de decisão dos governos locais para cooperar. Os resultados têm implicações nas políticas públicas que adotam acordos de cooperação intermunicipais no Brasil.

This study aims to analyze, from the perspective of the Punctuated Equilibrium Theory (PET), whether the decision making in budgetary executions in the Brazilian Federal Government, in the areas of health and education, were carried out based on stable processes or in moments of sudden (atypical) changes in the period from 2000 to 2018. The analyzes were performed with updated data for November 30, 2019, using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Shapiro-Wilk tests to test the normality of resource allocations. The results showed that the decisions were made based on stable processes. The percentage changes in the use of resources occurred on an incremental basis (normal distribution). It is observed that this research contributes to the literature that deals with the analysis of the allocation of public resources when using the theoretical model. They highlight the findings that it is necessary to rethink the allocations of budgetary resources in the areas of health and education in Brazil; that incremental decision-making needs to be reviewed and that judicialization in the area of public health needs an in-depth discussion of the Legislative and Executive Powers Este estudo tem o objetivo de analisar sob a ótica da Teoria do Equilíbrio Pontuado (PET, sigla em inglês) se as tomadas de decisões nas execuções orçamentárias no Governo Federal Brasileiro nas áreas da saúde e educação foram realizadas com base em processos estáveis ou em momentos de mudanças bruscas (atípicas), no período de 2000 a 2018. As análises foram realizadas com os dados atualizados para o dia 30 de novembro de 2019, sendo utilizados os Testes de Kolmogorov-Smirnov e Shapiro-Wilk para testar a normalidade das alocações dos recursos. Os resultados apontaram que as decisões foram tomadas com base em processos estáveis. As variações percentuais das aplicações dos recursos ocorreram com bases incrementais (distribuição normal). Esta pesquisa contribui com a literatura que trata das análises das alocações dos recursos públicos ao utilizar o modelo teórico. Os achados mostram que é necessário repensar as alocações dos recursos orçamentários das áreas da saúde e educação no Brasil, que as tomadas de decisões incrementais precisam ser revistas e que a judicialização na área da saúde pública necessita de uma discussão aprofundada dos Poderes Legislativo e Executivo. Este estudio tiene como objetivo analizar, desde la perspectiva de la Teoría del equilibrio puntuado (PET, sigla en inglés), si la toma de decisiones en las ejecuciones presupuestarias en el gobierno federal brasileño, en las áreas de salud y educación, se llevó a cabo con base en procesos estables o en momentos de cambios repentinos (atípicos) en el período de 2000 a 2018. Los análisis se realizaron con datos actualizados para el 30 de noviembre de 2019, utilizando las pruebas de Kolmogorov-Smirnov y Shapiro-Wilk para evaluar la normalidad de las asignaciones de recursos. Los resultados mostraron que las decisiones se tomaron con base en procesos estables. Los cambios porcentuales en el uso de los recursos ocurrieron de forma incremental (distribución normal). Esta investigación contribuye a la literatura que se ocupa del análisis de la asignación de recursos públicos cuando se utiliza el modelo teórico. Los hallazgos revelan que es necesario repensar las asignaciones de recursos presupuestarios en las áreas de salud y educación en Brasil, que la toma de decisiones incremental necesita ser revisada y que la judicialización en el área de la salud pública necesita una discusión en profundidad de los poderes legislativo y ejecutivo.

O PPG-7 desenvolvido desde 1994 até 2009 adquire um significado especial pelo fato de marcar a passagem da ideologia conservacionista à introdução da economia de mercado na região amazônica. A própria oferta do G-7 e a aceitação do governo brasileiro da época visavam a integrar a iniciativa dentro do novo cenário internacional, dando início ao processo de mercantilização atual da Amazônia.The PPG-7, developed from 1994 to 2009, acquires a special significance by making the transition of a conservationist ideology to the introduction of market economy in the Amazon region. The proposal of G-7 and the acceptance of the Brazilian government at that time sought to integrate the initiative within the new international scenario, initiating the current mercantile process of the Amazon.

This paper presents a descriptive case study regarding the negotiations between the German automotive company Bayerische Motoren Werke (BMW) and Brazilian Federal Government (BFG) with the purpose to implement the company's first automotive factory in Latin America. BMW announced on March 2011 to the BFG the intention to start manufacturing in the country. However, on September of the same year, BFG launched measures aiming to foster productive investments and protect the internal market, which included a 30 percentage points excise tax increase on non-locally manufactured cars. This significant change on the regulatory environment impacted directly BMW's market access strategies under development at that time. Such governmental measures gave birth: (a) to a new automotive regime called Inovar-Auto and (b) the need for BMW to negotiate its strategic interests with BFG. The negotiations were successfully concluded on October 2012 with positive outcomes to all parties involved. This study throws more light on the strategic importance of Government Relations as a core competence for companies operating on strongly regulated business environments. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]

Este artigo apresenta uma metodologia simplificada de estimação, em bases trimestrais, das transferências governamentais e da carga tributária líquida da economia brasileira no período 1995-2009. O artigo descreve, ainda, os principais fatos estilizados observados no comportamento das referidas séries (e de desagregações relevantes destas) no período em questão, chamando a atenção para o fato de que o perfil distributivo das transferências de assistência e previdência do governo parece ter melhorado nos últimos anos.This paper presents a simplified methodology for estimating quarterly figures for both the Brazilian government transfers and net aggregate tax burden in the 1995-2009 years. It also describes the main stylized facts observed in the data in this period, calling attention to the fact that Brazilian government transfers apparently have become more progressive in recent years.

It is difficult to exaggerate the relevance of the public transfers to the private sector in modern Brazil. Few studies, however, analyze the evolution of these transfers as a whole. This paper attempts to fill this gap in the literature in three different ways. First, it shows how to construct an annual series compatible with the current Brazilian national accounts system (2000) over the period 1995-2012. Second, it refines and extends (up until 2012) the previous effort of Santos et al. (2010) in constructing quarterly estimates of these transfers (disaggregated in its main components). Finally, it provides an analysis of the dynamics of the aforementioned transfers in the 1995-2012 years.

Este artigo discute a relação entre as reformas da educação e a concepção de sociedde civil na era FHC, a partir de uma crítica ao comunitarismo. Apontamos que a concepção de formação humana pressuposta nas reformas do período em questão, voltada para a aprendizagem do trade off econômico e moral (ajudar os pobres como forma de compensar os benefícios recebidos pela sociedade, como o emprego, bolsas de estudos) coaduna-se com o neoliberalismo e com o reforço da histórica cisão “moral” da sociedade brasileira. This paper argues the relationship between education reforms and the civil society conception in Brazil during the Fernando Henrique Cardoso government (1995-2002). We analizes the communitarian people moral formation conception of such reforms showing how it harmonises with the neoliberal values like the exigence of the apprenticeship of the economic and moral trade-off: the market rationality. But such a trend does not help the brazilian people eliminate his historical moral cision grounded on deep economic inequalities conected with an “imoral” social subornination even for liberal values.