Brazilian manufacturing sector, which had led Brazil's economic growth in the five decades preceding 1981 in the industrialization phase, lost dynamism since the early 1980s. Since 1981, Brazilian manufacturing product grew slightly below the modest growth rate of Brazil's Gross Domestic Product (GDP). With this, manufacturing sector has contributed less and less to the formation of the GDP. Brazilian manufacturing sector has also shrunk a lot relative to the global manufacturing from 1981 to 2017. This research makes an evaluation of the productive and technological structure well disaggregated sectorally of the Brazilian manufacturing industry, thus offering a detailed diagnosis of the loss of industrial dynamism. This research sought to answer the following questions: i) have the manufacturing sectors decreased their share in GDP uniformly, or have been sectorally concentrated? ii) are knowledge and technology intensive sectors following a trajectory of normal or premature de-industrialization? iii) are the production chains of the country more hollow or rarefied in the 2000s? iv) is the country an assembler who does little industrial transformation in some manufacturing subsector? v) are the manufacturing subsectors that more imported inputs and components also the ones that more exported? That is, Brazil has an active insertion in global value chains (GVC)? vi) are services sectors relevant in conducting research and development (R&D) in Brazil so that deindustrialization is irrelevant from the technological perspective? To answer these questions, the author created an unpublished long-term series of the participation of manufacturing sectors in GDP. A special tabulation of Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics was also obtained, with data for 258 manufacturing subsectors, which allowed evaluating the degree of productive densification. Finally, data from Brazil's National Accounts, input-output matrices, and investment matrices were used to make a sectoral portrait of the production and use of R&D, through input-output techniques. Results showed that Brazilian manufacturing development is stagnant and occurs a long-term retraction of real per capita manufacturing output since 1981. This research also presented a sectoral approach to deindustrialization by GDP in an unpublished way, reporting that part of Brazilian deindustrialization is normal (or expected) and part is premature (and undesirable) given the level of development of Brazil. Premature deindustrialization occurred in the technology-intensive sectors, which also have a low degree of productive densification by importing a substantial portion of the inputs and R&D-intensive components. It was also observed that Brazil inserts passively in the GVC since the manufacturing classes that more import inputs and components do not export. Finally, service sectorswhich have gained considerable weight in GDP in recent decadesconducted little investment in R&D in Brazil and to a lesser extent than manufacturing sectors. Therefore, from the technolo...

We employ a detailed skill database from Brazil to investigate how skill relatedness influences structural change in a developing country. We find a positive relationship between the skill-relatedness density and the entry of skillrelated industries; a negative association with the exit of industries from regional economies; and a positive influence on employment growth. The relationship between skill relatedness and structural change varies across different regions. Entry is more likely in large regions, and depends less on relatedness in advanced and middle-income regions.Skill relatedness plays a role in preventing exit from small regions and enhancing employment growth in larger regions.

Many developing countries have highly unequal health systems across their regions. The pandemic of COVID-19 brought an additional challenge, as hospital structures equipped with doctors, intensive care units and respirators are not available to a sufficient extent in all regions. Using Data Envelopment Analysis, we create a COVID Index to verify whether the hospital structures in 543 Brazilian microregions are adequate to deal with COVID-19 and to verify whether public policies were implemented in the right direction. The results indicate that hospital structures in the poorest microregions were the most vulnerable, although the peak of COVID-19 occurred in the richest microregions (Sao Paulo). The Southeast states could relocate hospital resources or even patients between their regions. The relocation was not possible in many states in the Northeast, as the health system poorly assisted the interior of these states. These findings reveal that the heterogeneity of microregions’ hospital structures follows the patterns of socioeconomic inequalities. We conclude that it is easier for the wealthier regions to reallocate hospital resources internally than for the poorest regions. By using the COVID Index, policymakers and hospital managers have straightforward information to decide which regions must receive new investments and reallocate underutilized resources.

Production and employment in the Brazilian manufacturing industry grew significantly in the decade from 2004 to 2013, but the technological intensity of production activities declined. Growth was driven by domestic demand, which performed well due to the significant job creation, real minimum wage increases, and the credit boom. However, Brazilian manufacturing lost competitiveness, presented a negative labor productivity growth, and registered trade deficits in most sectors, including those traditionally associated with surpluses. The chapter also shows that the manufacturing sector is integrated into the global value chains by imports, but not by exports—which is a case of introverted fragmentation.