Lines of Research

Regional Economics and Macroeconomics

It develops works that discuss issues inherent to the process of regional development and macroeconomic stability, that is, it examines the behavior of regional economies and investigates issues that may explain the differentiated growth of countries and / or regions and, consequently, processes of increase and / or reduction of disparities that can also contribute to directions and discussions involving public policies. Such issues are discussed in theoretical and / or empirical terms on the sectorial, infrastructure (e.g. energy, transport, communication), technological issues, environmental issues, social issues (e.g. health, education, migration, labor market, demography, crime), market structures, international trade, institutions (e.g. public finances), the urban environment and positive and negative externalities.

These thematic lines of research support works that use regional analysis techniques such as input-output, computable general balance, spatial econometrics, panel data econometrics, multivariate statistical techniques and model integration.

Social and Labor Economics

It studies the process of economic development and its social repercussions, focusing on issues such as socioeconomic inequality, economic growth, the labor market and its relations with the economy, technological unemployment, education and formation of human capital, crime, gender, efficiency in the public sector and health and its socioeconomic consequences. Studies in the area seek to identify the causes and consequences of increasing physical and human capital, reducing inequalities and strengthening institutions. How to explain the causes of the greater or lesser economic development of countries or regions? How do individual decisions affect growth and inequality? If there are market failures, what mechanisms can lead to greater growth and reduced inequality? How do social phenomena affect individual choices? What is the impact of public policy? Questions like these reflect an understanding of the process of economic and social development as a product of the decisions of economic agents, whether they are individuals, families or firms. The methodological support for this line of research comes from microeconometrics, methods of policy impact evaluation and spatial econometrics. Studies within this line of research can directly contribute to the formulation of policies, especially public ones, aimed at promoting economic and social development.

Organization and Markets

Develops work on firms and organizations, focusing on its internal structure in terms of tangible and intangible resources (equipment, workers, physical and knowledge capital, patents), its position in the market structure and its relations with other economic agents and their differentiated performance by business environment. Such issues are discussed in theoretical and / or empirical terms from different perspectives: sectorial, technological, environmental, social, commercial and regulatory.

One aspect of this line of research is dedicated to the analysis of the structure and dynamics of behavior in different imperfect markets, of the internationalization strategies of companies, sectors and countries in a context of competition, and of international competitiveness, interrelating these analyzes with public policies development promotion (antidumping, competition control and regulation). Empirical analyzes are based on theories of Industrial Economics, International Economics and Economic Development. As areas of activity, we can mention the identification of the nature of competition in selected markets, the empirical analysis of foreign trade, the analysis of the effects of economic integration and globalization, patterns of specialization in foreign trade, strategic behavior of companies in the international trade and external market potential.

Another aspect is dedicated to the issue of technology. From a technological point of view, we seek to understand what are the microeconomic incentives that lead to innovation and its effects on the economic performance of organizations and the generation of new business models.

Finally, there is a focus on integration between companies that demand resources and the mechanisms of the financial market capable of supplying them considering the risk-return relationship. To provide methodological support to the works, statistical analysis techniques such as input-output, computable general balance, spatial econometrics, time series econometrics, panel data econometrics, multivariate statistical techniques and model integration are used.