Technological capacity and Catching Up: the case of the Brazilian emerging metropolitan areas

Abstract

Since the 1970's the loss of industrial output share of Sao Paulo Metropolitan Area relative to Brazil's industrial output has been explained by a process of "reversal polarization". This article aims to analyze the catching up effect of variables of productive efficiency, such as technological capacity and labor force skill. The main point is to analyze if the behavior of these variables favored or reduced desagglomeration of Sao Paulo city and the resulting agglomeration effect on Brazilian emerging metropolitan areas. Utilizing the Household Sample Survey (PNAD) of the Brazilian Geography and Statistics Institute (IBGE) we will test if there has been technological catching up between São Paulo (defined as the frontier) and second-tier metropolis of southern Brazil (Belo Horizonte, Curitiba and Porto Alegre). A set of panel data tests the importance of the variables referred to on spatial distribution of Brazilian industry.

technology; catching up; metropolitan areas; Brazil