Promoting exports in Brazil

• Grant number: 21/04886-0
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: October 01, 2021
• End date: December 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Economics - International Economy
• Agreement: Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF)
• Principal Investigator: Vladimir Pinheiro Ponczek
• Grantee: Vladimir Pinheiro Ponczek
• Principal researcher abroad: Nicolas Depetris Chauvin
• Institution abroad: Haute École de Gestion de Genève (HEG), Switzerland
• Host Institution: Escola de Economia de São Paulo (EESP). Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Cristine Campos de Xavier Pinto ; Emanuel Augusto Rodrigues Ornelas ; João Paulo Cordeiro de Noronha Pessoa

Abstract

In the r4d project financed Swiss National Foundation, we find evidence of the importance of exporting for firms' productivity, employment and wages. For example, Olarreaga and Ugarte (2020) find that augmenting the share of export promotion agencies' budgets on total exports lead to lower unemployment. The effects are stronger when efforts are focused on sectors in which countries have a comparative advantage. In this project, we aim to involve firms and stakeholders in Brazil in a Randomized Controlled Trial that tests how online courses about exporting-related procedures can affect firms' decisions to export and their employment dynamics. The firms at the treatment group will be involved in different online training sessions providing information on distinct export impediments: red tape, financial frictions, how to find customers abroad (demand uncertainty). The RCT will involve small, medium and large manufacturing firms in Brazil. The final goal is to evaluate policies that could assist policymakers in developing countries to promote international trade and economic development in the near future in a cost-effective way. (AU)