Dinâmica regional brasileira e economias de aglomeração: uma análise da distribuição e diferenças de produtividade das firmas brasileiras ao longo do território nacional (2010 – 2020)

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to improve the understanding of regional dynamics in the Brazilian context for the period between 2010 and 2020. This objective was achieved through three steps: a literature review, a descriptive analysis of the Brazilian economic situation, and an empirical application. The literature review allowed the identification of the main regional and urban theories of location and agglomeration economies and their relevance to understanding regional and urban dynamics. The descriptive analysis revealed that the concentration of economic activities, sectoral specialization, and diversification are relevant characteristics for understanding the Brazilian economy. In the empirical application, hierarchical models were estimated with three analytical levels. The first level considered the firm as the basic unit of analysis, a second level classified the firms sectorally using the new technology intensity classification of the OECD, and a third level considered the microrregional grouping of firms. Through this application, it was possible to quantify the importance of agglomerative factors on the productivity of Brazilian firms, confirming the importance of population and economic density, sectoral diversity, and regional specialization for the productivity of Brazilian firms. Analyses were also conducted on how the effects of location and urbanization economies affect firms in different regions and sectors of different technological intensities.