Economic impact of the expansion of federal universities in Brazil

Eduardo Ferreira Vinhais, Henrique and Guilhoto, Joaquim José Martins (2012): Economic impact of the expansion of federal universities in Brazil. Published in: 59th Annual North American Meetings of the Regional Science Association International (November 2012)

Abstract

There has been a strong expansion of the federal universities’ system in Brazil in this century, consisted of increased public spending. This study aims to estimate the regional economic impact of this expansion, using an Interregional Input-Output model estimated for the 558 micro-regions of the Brazilian economy, at the level of 55 sectors, for the year of 2004. Treating the expansion of public spending in federal universities as a shock on the sector of Public Education, for the period 2004 to 2010, it is noticed that the federal universities’ budget increased from US$ 5.6 billion at the beginning of the century to US$ 7.9 billion in 2010. The global results show a total effect of US$ 6 billion in GDP (0.36% of 2004 GDP), US$ 10.5 billion in gross value of production, and an increase of 430,400 employed people. It appears that the smaller micro-regional economies present the highest relative impacts of the expansion of federal spending on universities, and those micro-regions, which have a capital of a federative unit, show the largest effects in absolute. Specifically, the microrregion of Diamantina - MG is the one with the largest percentage impact. Among the existing universities, the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) has the largest absolute impact. But among the new ones, it stands out the Federal University of ABC (UFABC) and the Federal University of Recôncavo da Bahia (UFRB)

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Higher education, federal universities, government spending, input-output, Brazil
• Subjects: H - Public Economics > H5 - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies > H52 - Government Expenditures and Education; I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I2 - Education and Research Institutions > I25 - Education and Economic Development; R - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics > R1 - General Regional Economics > R15 - Econometric and Input-Output Models ; Other Models

References

ANDIFES - National Association of Directors of Federal Institutions of Higher Education (Associação Nacional dos Dirigentes das Instituições Federais de Ensino Superior). http://www.andifes.org.br.

Brazilian Federal Government. WebSite of the Brazilian House of Representative. Available at: http://www2.camara.gov.br/atividade-legislativa/orcamentobrasil/ orcamentouniao/loa/execucao.html.

Carvalho, C. (2011) A Política Pública para a Educação Superior no Brasil (1995-2008): Ruptura e/ou Continuidade? PhD Thesis presented to the Department of Economics of the State University of Campinas. 441 p.

Garrido-Yserte, R.; Gallo-Rivera, M. (2010) The Impact of the University upon Local Economy: Three Methods to Estimate Demand-Side Effects. The Annals of Regional Science, vol. 44(1), pages 39-67, February.

Gonçalves, E. (2006) Estrutura Urbana e Atividade Tecnológica em Minas Gerais. Economia Aplicada, 10(4): 481-502.

Guilhoto, J. (2009) Análise de Insumo-Produto: teoria, fundamentos e aplicações. Working book. Department of Economics, University of São Paulo, 2009.

Guilhoto, J; Sesso Filho, U. (2005) Estimação da matriz insumo-produto a partir de dados preliminares das contas nacionais. Economia Aplicada, 9 (2), pp. 277-299.

Liu, H.; Polenske, K.; Guilhoto, J. (2010) China and Brazil Productive Structure and Economic Growth Compared: 1980’s to 2000’s. Paper presented at 57th Annual North American Meetings of the Regional Science Association International. Denver, USA, November.

MEC – Ministry of Education. (2009) Reuni 2008 – Relatório de Primeiro Ano. Development Board of the Federal Higher Education Institutions. Brasília-DF. 17p.

MEC – Ministry of Education. (2008) O Plano de Desenvolvimento da Educação: Razões, Princípios e Programas. Brasília-DF. 43p.

MEC – Ministry of Education. (2007) Diretrizes Gerais: Documento Complementar. Development Board of the Federal Higher Education Institutions. Brasília-DF. 14p.

Miller, R.; Blair, P. (2009) Input-Output Analysis: Foundations and Extensions. Second Edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Parsons, R.; Griffiths, A. (2003) A Micro Economic Model to Assess the Economic Impact of Universities: A Case Example. Association for Institutional Research. Professional File. No. 87, 24p.

Report of the Working Group on Financing for Education (Relatório do Grupo de Trabalho sobre Financiamento da Educação) (2001) RBEP - Brazilian Journal of Pedagogical Studies (Revista Brasileira de Estudos Pedagógicos). Brasília-DF. 19p.

Rolim, C.; Kureski, R. (2010) Impacto Econômico de Curto Prazo das Universidades Federais na Economia Brasileira. Paper presented at the XIII Regional Economic Meeting (South ANPEC). Porto Alegre-RS, August 11-13.

Siegfried, J., Sanderson, A.; Mchenry, P. (2007) The Economic Impact of Colleges and Universities. Economics of Education Review, vol. 26(5), pp. 546-558.

Výrostova, E.; Výrost, T. (2007) Measuring the Role of Universities in Regional Development. Technical University of Košice, Faculty of Economics - 2nd Central European Conference in Regional Science – CERS, 2007. pp. 1141 – 1149.