A liberalização comercial e seus impactos alocativos na economia brasileira

Resumen

The objective of this paper is to analyze how the trade liberalization, carried out in the late 80s, and mainly in the early 90s, affected the allocation ofresources in the Brazilian economy. We show herein the trade liberalization schedule and characteristics, and also make an assessment of its influence on the allocation of resources. A comparative advantage indicator was designed, based upon the qualification of manpower, and used to verify whether trade liberalization diverted resources, both in terms ofproduction value and in terms of value added, towards those sectors where the Brazilian economy sports a significant amount of production factors. Thus, we have tested the hypothesis whether the trade liberalization in Brazil fits under the criteria set forth by the Heckscher-Ohlin trade theory.