The Brazilian productive structure and policy responses in the face of the international economic crisis: An assessment based on input-output analysis

This paper addresses the Brazilian productive structure and the major economic policies undertaken in the face of the international economic crisis. Input-output techniques are applied to Brazilian national accounts and present a picture of the potential role of different sectors in the recovery of the economy. Considering the country's economic performance at the time, post-2008 economic policies adopted in Brazil are discussed, with emphasis given on the tax break policy, inserted into a broader policy scope. Results show that industrial sectors have stronger linkages in terms of production and employment maintenance in the economy but have been losing ground in the productive structure. Among them, there is evidence in favour of supporting more some sectors, such as the automobile and the construction industries, rather than others, such as white goods appliances and furniture, but especially the need of recovering industrial development as a whole for sustained economic growth.