Um estudo comparativo entre Brasil e Austrália no período entre 1991-2019 à luz da teoria estruturalista

Abstract

According to the structuralist literature, economic development is the result of successive transformations in the productive structures of countries. Industry has the role of diffuser of economic development. However, although Brazil and Australia have export baskets mostly made up of primary products, the level of economic development of the economies is quite different. Using the exploratory method, deductive and quantitative in nature, through the comparative study of countries, the objective of this work is to analyze the two economies comparatively, seeking to identify, in an exploratory and descriptive way, possible factors that explain the disparities in per capita income and trajectories of economic development in the most recent period (1991-2019). Initially, an analysis of the economic trajectories of countries in terms of policies that encouraged the process of economic development, especially through industrialization, was carried out. Then, the comparative study was carried out using indicators based on structuralist theory and others more used by the mainstream. The main differences found in the empirical analysis in the period 1991-2019 stand out: the added value of industry per capita to GDP is three times higher in Australia than in Brazil; most of the population of Australia has completed secondary and higher education, while in Brazil there is a significant percentage of illiterates; labor productivity, investment and foreign direct investment as a percentage of Australia's GDP is much higher than Brazil's; and the number of researchers dedicated to research and development as well. With regard to international trade and production structure indicators, Brazil has been prioritizing its exports while losing participation in sectors that incorporate greater technological content, while the opposite occurred in Australia. It is understood that public policies should promote a movement of the productive structure towards sectors with greater technological intensity and higher quality products, contrary to what has happened in Brazil in the most recent period.