Productive efficiency and the future of regional disparities in Brazil

Abstract: We use Stochastic Production Frontiers to estimate the recent levels and the evolution of productive efficiency across regions in Brazil. Results are available for agriculture, industry and services, as well as for total production. We observe a substantive efficiency growth exhibited by agriculture at the national level, which is counterbalanced by the poor performance of services. The regional results show that efficiency levels still replicate, in general, the regional inequality that marked the country’s history through decades. However, the efficiency growth reveals new signs of convergence among states, especially for industry, with effects on the aggregate production. This indicates that inequality trends in productive efficiency may be starting to change.

摘要：本研究采用随机生产前沿（Stochastic Production Frontiers）模型，估算巴西各地区近期的生产效率水平及其演变趋势。研究结果涵盖农业、工业、服务业以及总生产四个维度。观测显示，全国层面的农业生产效率实现了显著增长，但这一增长被服务业的低效表现所抵消。区域层面的分析结果表明，整体而言，生产效率水平仍延续了该国数十年来标志性的区域发展失衡格局。不过，生产效率的增长态势显现出各州间效率趋同的新迹象，尤以工业领域最为突出，该趋势对总生产产生了影响。这表明巴西生产效率的区域不平等趋势或已开始发生转变。