The Economics of the Brazilian Model of Agricultural Development author-name: Bernardo Mueller

This paper provides an overview of the evolution of Brazilian agriculture analyzing its transition from low productivity and backwardness to its current status as major player in international markets and role model for other developing countries. Yet, rather than simply looking back and trying to find an ex-post reasoning that explains what has taken place, the analysis highlights the fact that throughout this path policy had very limited control over what actually took place and most agents had, and still have, a very poor understanding of how thing actually work. We highlight the importance of the underlying institutional setting on the impact of agricultural policy. The remarkable transformation in Brazilian agriculture only really emerged when inclusive institutions – strong presidentialsm subject to strong checks and balances – created a fiscal, monetary and political environment in which those policies could succeed.