Três ensaios sobre crescimento econômico, capital humano e instituições

Abstract

The study of the variables that explain economic growth is a matter of great debate in academic research. Understanding the way in which physical capital , human capital and institutions affect economic performance is discussed by many authors , such as: Ransey (1928), Solow (1956 ), Swan (1956), Lucas (1988), Mankiw et al. (1992), Hall and Jones (1999), Acemoglu (2001,2003,2005 etc.) , Dias and Tebaldi (2012), among others, and is the central objective of this thesis. For this, three tests were constructed. The first test estimates the stock of physical and human capital for the Brazilian states. Physical capital was built by using the methodology proposed by Garafolo and Yamariki (2002) and the estimates of human capital were based on Mincer (1974) equation with the correction of Heckman (1979). Using a panel of data, these estimates were applied in a regression of growth, with the growth rate of GDP per capita used as an explanatory variable. It is concluded that the stocks of public and private physical capital help explain the long-term growth and are, therefore, important elements to be considered in economic policy making. An important contribution of this first experiment is the construction of human capital stock, via Mincerian equation, because, when using specific return parameters of education and experience, estimates of economic growth were significant in explaining long-term economic growth. The second test gave continuation to the analysis by proposing the inclusion of the institution variable as an important factor in the economic growth process. Based on the model proposed by Dias and Tebaldi (2012), in which they presented the micro foundations that bind the institutions to human capital , the test innovated by calculating the structural institution variable to Brazil and by making estimates that improvements in the quality of institutions turn the accumulation of human capital faster and improve the historical path of development . The work also addressed the political institution, which was built by Buzzo (2014), but the results of the estimates were not significant for the long-term economic growth in Brazil. Finally, in the third test, it was approached, in theoretical and empirically form, the relation between human capital, institutions and economic growth, but with an international database. The test assumes that the political, economic and structural institutions affect economic growth and human capital in two ways, one directly, through the impact of institutions on economic growth, and another indirectly through the impact of institutions on human capital in the economy . The results corroborate this hypothesis.