Structural changes in the Brazilian economy 1990–2015

This paper analyses the structural changes in the Brazilian economy from 1990 to 2015 by applying structural decomposition analysis (SDA). The production structure of emerging economies is an important field of research because it enables the assessment of sectoral policies and technological progress to support sustained economic growth in the long-term. The investigation described here was conducted using input–output matrices for a short and long-term analysis which enabled us to verify the importance of twelve aggregate sectors regarding changes in production, final demand and technological coefficients. This topic could be used for such analyses in any other country. The results indicate that the production structure of Brazilian economy remains fragile and dependent on demand shocks for its growth. Furthermore, manufacturing industry remains the major sector capable of promoting structural changes in production.