Coffee, cocoa and economic growth in Brazil

Vol. 11 No. 3 (1991)

Jul-Sep / 1991
Published July 1, 1991
PDF-Portuguese (Português (Brasil))
PDF-Portuguese (Português (Brasil))

How to Cite

Willumsen, Maria J., and Amitava Krishna Dutt. 1991. “Coffee, Cocoa and Economic Growth in Brazil”. Brazilian Journal of Political Economy 11 (3):362-81. https://doi.org/10.1590/0101-31571991-0862.

Coffee, cocoa and economic growth in Brazil

Maria J. Willumsen
Florida International University, Miami/FL, EUA.
Amitava Krishna Dutt
University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame/IN, EUA.
Brazilian Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 11 No. 3 (1991), Jul-Sep / 1991, Pages 362-381

Abstract

This paper analyzes the impacts of increases in prices of two primary products
– coffee and cocoa – on the growth of the national and regional economies. It tries to
understand the factors that have determined salutary effects in the coffee region and
negligible effects on the cocoa region. The results suggest that only a partial answer can be
found in the nature of these products, as proposed by the “staples” approach. The largest
effects seem to be connected with some social and macroeconomic characteristics prevalent
in these economies during the “boom” period.

JEL Classification: O47; Q11.


Keywords: Coffee cocoa economic history of Brazil economic growth