Disparidades regionais: análise comparada de desenvolvimento entre regiões do Brasil nos anos noventa – Sul e Nordeste

Abstract

This paper analyses the economic and social development of the South and Northeast regions of Brazil in the 1990s. Initially, it introduces the concept of development and the social indicators employed to measure economic and human development in countries and regions. Based on data related to the evolution of the Brazilian economic and social situation, the development of the South and Northeast regions is examined. Finally, the paper analyses the existing dichotomy between these Brazilian regions as far as economic development is concerned. The Brazilian social indicators have improved significantly after the implementation of the Real Plan in 1994, as it promoted the price stabilization, increasing the purchasing power of the poorest, and reducing the inequality. Besides the price stabilization, income transferences promoted by the federal government also played an important role to reduce inequality and improve social indicators. The dichotomy, however, still remains, since its historical roots associated with the historic process of economic and social formation, the constitution of labor market and the land structure influenced in different ways the Brazilian regions. Key words: economic development, regional development, inequality.