Poverty is a historical development curse in Tanzania, which has incited extensive institutional reforms and policy changes and received numerous analyses in development research literature. Paradoxically, taking actions to study and alleviate poverty have increased with its continuing severity. A substantial body of research on poverty in the country suggests that, the vast majority of these studies focus on the content rather than the context of poverty alleviation processes. Specifically, the focus has been on: ideas, interests and struggles for resources between political leaders and bureaucrats believed to be taking place at the expense of the poor; ill-informed and unrealistic development policies and strategies; anti-development behaviour and tendencies of the peasants and their alleged conservatism and resistance to modernity, and weak incentive structures of the economy. There is little focus on the character and dynamics of the (historical) institutional context in which these economic conditions, struggles and policy initiatives emerge and take place. Motivated by the disappointing results of anti-poverty initiatives and weaknesses of previous studies, this study uses historical institutional impact analysis guided by institutionalist theory to analyse the problem. The central argument is that the existence and functioning character of institutions are necessary conditions for any human development activity. So, acceptance of the crucial importance of historically oriented institutional context analysis in understanding poverty alleviation initiatives and outcomes is imperative. The study draws on primary and secondary data collected through documentary review and interview methods to explain the ways in which institutional reforms result in an institutional order tolerant of poverty and which create conditions that perpetuate it. It does this by exploring the mode of historical institutional development and by examining the functioning character of the institutional order in respect of poverty alleviation. The study argues that achieving success in poverty alleviation related reforms is dependent on proper understanding of institutional realities of Tanzanian society and the functioning character of the existing institutional order. It proposes a reform process in which institutional legacies and their impact on society become the focus of the reform process itself. The findings indicate that, while reforms and policy changes have taken place and new patterns of behaviour introduced, the logics of institutions central to development and poverty alleviation have not, been fundamentally altered and new patterns of behaviour have simply perpetuated it. Specifically, the findings suggest: first, that institutional reforms pursued by the government are inadequate due to misconception of institutional problems of Tanzanian society; second, that the reforms have created new conditions which perpetuate poverty; and, third, that fundamental character of the functioning of the Tanzanian institutional order will need to change before such anti-poverty measures can hope to succeed. Thus, the study offers a correction to ill-informed poverty analysis by providing an alternative account of the root cause of poverty while insisting that a better understanding of the failure of poverty alleviation requires a strong focus on the historical institutional realties of the country.

Este trabalho visa estudar a evolução da produtividade dos bancos brasileiros ao longo dos anos de 2000 a 2014, analisando o período pré e pós 2003, quando iniciou-se a introdução de reformas institucionais que afetaram o setor bancário, dando base à sustentabilidade do crescimento do crédito na economia e fortalecendo a estrutura das operações tanto à pessoa física quanto à pessoa jurídica. O estudo é introduzido através da estimação de funções de produção e obtenção de medidas de produtividade total dos fatores (PTF) para 86 bancos individuais, empregando as técnicas de Levinsohn e Petrin (2003) e de Ackerberg, Caves e Frazer (2015) para controlar problemas de endogeneidade e colinearidade que surgem por conta da variável não observada (produtividade) e da escolha dos insumos. Os bancos foram divididos em três grupos: (i) intensivos em operações de crédito, utilizando como critério a razão de operações de crédito/total do ativo maior ou igual a 50% no período anterior às reformas; (ii) não intensivos em operações de crédito, reunindo bancos com a razão anteriormente mencionada menor que 10%, tendo como premissa que esse conjunto não é afetado diretamente pelas reformas; e (iii) os cinco maiores bancos do sistema financeiro brasileiro em relação ao ativo total. Os resultados mostram que (i) a produtividade agregada dos bancos oscilava sem direção definida no período anterior às reformas, mas mostraram um crescimento após as reformas; (ii) bancos intensivos em operações de crédito apresentaram ganho de produtividade de 7,0% a.a. após as reformas, totalizando 110,7% no período de 2004 a 2014, o que representa um crescimento bem mais expressivo que os 4,3% a.a. para os bancos não intensivos, totalizando ganho de 58,9% após as reformas; e (iii) maior realocação do produto de bancos menos produtivos para bancos mais produtivos durante a crise financeira mundial de 2008. / This paper aims to study the productivity of Brazilian banks from 2000 to 2014, analyzing the period before and after 2003, when began the introduction of institutional reforms affecting the banking sector, supporting the sustainability of credit growth in the economy and strengthening the structure of operations both to individuals as to legal entities. The study is introduced by estimating production functions and obtaining the total factor productivity (TFP) for 86 individual banks, implementing the methodology proposed by Levinsohn and Petrin (2003) and Ackerberg, Caves and Frazer (2015) to control problems of endogeneity and collinearity that arise due to the unobserved variable (productivity) and the choice of inputs. Banks were divided into three groups: (i) intensive in credit operations, using as criteria the ratio of credit operations/total assets greater than or equal to 50% in the period before the reforms; (ii) non-intensive in credit operations, bringing together banks with aforementioned ratio less than 10%, with the assumption that this group is not directly affected by the reforms; and (iii) the five largest banks in the Brazilian financial system in relation to total assets. The results show that (i) the aggregate productivity of banks fluctuated without a defined direction in the period before the reforms, but showed growth after the reforms; (ii) intensive banks in credit operations showed productivity gains of 7.0% (compound annual growth rate) after the reforms, totaling 110.7% from 2004 to 2014, which represents a much more significant growth than the 4.3% per year for non-intensive banks, totaling a gain of 58.9% after the reforms; and (iii) higher relocation of the product from less productive to more productive banks during the global financial crisis in 2008.

Orientador: Carlos Alberto Cinquetti / Banca: Aquiles Elie Guimarães Kalatzis / Banca: André Luis Corrêa / Resumo: O objetivo deste trabalho é discutir algumas reformas institucionais e políticas econômicas voltadas ao crescimento. Para tanto, valemo-nos de simulações econômicas, um tipo de abordagem alternativa que usa técnicas matemáticas e deduções para resolver um modelo objetivo. A simulação econômica desta dissertação reflete que o grau de abertura comercial é um fator relevante de peso para possíveis alterações estruturais nas economias. Nota-se que, nos países com baixo grau de abertura, o custo do capital é o principal entrave para o crescimento econômico. E, naquelas economias com alto grau de abertura, a maior dinâmica compensaria os problemas causados pelo custo do capital. Quando comparados os dois tipos de reformas (contínua versus pontual), a reforma "contínua" trará uma qualidade de ganho mais expressivo do produto relativo do que a reforma "pontual". Outra conclusão é que, as economias com maior grau de abertura devem ter uma maior preocupação com respeito à qualidade das suas instituições, devido à maior potencialidade causada pela maior abertura comercial / Abstract: The objective of this work is to discuss some institutional reforms and economic politics related to the growth. Therefore, it is based on economic simulations, a type of alternative approach that uses mathematical techniques and deductions to solve an objective model. The economic simulation of this dissertation reflects that the trade opening level is an important factor of weight for possible structural alterations in the economies. It is noticeable that, in the countries with low opening level, the cost of the capital is the main setback for the economic growth. And, in those economies with high opening level, the largest dynamics would compensate the problems caused by the cost of the capital. When compared the two types of reforms (continuous versus punctual), the "continuous" reform will bring a more expressive gain quality of the relative product than the "punctual" reform. Other conclusion is that, the larger opening level economies should have a larger concern regarded to the quality of its institutions, due to the largest potentiality caused by the largest trade opening / Mestre

Australia's tertiary educational environment is changing; in the past decade, it has faced a new set of challenges and pressures (Cunningham et al., 1998) that are encroaching on the traditional definitions of what higher education is. These challenges often dictate the directions in which the tertiary education environment evolves into. Within the framework of institutional reforms, the adopted policies are often the best indicators of that transition. Flexible delivery or learning has been espoused as a means of meeting and mediating some of those challenges. With their emphasis on catering to the needs and expectations of the consumer in a consumerist society, flexible policies are becoming the norm in most institutes of higher learning. However, of interest within the structure of the flexible delivery approach is the development of learner management systems (LMS). The question is what are learner management systems? What do they represent and what do they offer to the learner that differentiates it from the traditional forms of learning? In its basic form, a learner management system is essentially a series of processes that are developed and organised so as to efficiently provide the learner with the required access and interaction required to facilitate his or her learning. However, what are the benefits of being aware of the capabilities and limitations afforded by such approaches? How does it contribute to the process of teaching and learning in the context of higher education? The effectiveness of how these learner management systems are used in context to its application in multimedia programmes is of importance. Institutions are progressively introducing similar learning systems into their delivery framework. The question as to whether a singular adaptive system or a customised option remains to be tested.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:24:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2010-09-03Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:51:51Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 costajunior_cj_me_arafcl.pdf: 632229 bytes, checksum: c6250f155c18bcb1314c39462bbc6940 (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / O objetivo deste trabalho é discutir algumas reformas institucionais e políticas econômicas voltadas ao crescimento. Para tanto, valemo-nos de simulações econômicas, um tipo de abordagem alternativa que usa técnicas matemáticas e deduções para resolver um modelo objetivo. A simulação econômica desta dissertação reflete que o grau de abertura comercial é um fator relevante de peso para possíveis alterações estruturais nas economias. Nota-se que, nos países com baixo grau de abertura, o custo do capital é o principal entrave para o crescimento econômico. E, naquelas economias com alto grau de abertura, a maior dinâmica compensaria os problemas causados pelo custo do capital. Quando comparados os dois tipos de reformas (contínua versus pontual), a reforma contínua trará uma qualidade de ganho mais expressivo do produto relativo do que a reforma pontual. Outra conclusão é que, as economias com maior grau de abertura devem ter uma maior preocupação com respeito à qualidade das suas instituições, devido à maior potencialidade causada pela maior abertura comercial / The objective of this work is to discuss some institutional reforms and economic politics related to the growth. Therefore, it is based on economic simulations, a type of alternative approach that uses mathematical techniques and deductions to solve an objective model. The economic simulation of this dissertation reflects that the trade opening level is an important factor of weight for possible structural alterations in the economies. It is noticeable that, in the countries with low opening level, the cost of the capital is the main setback for the economic growth. And, in those economies with high opening level, the largest dynamics would compensate the problems caused by the cost of the capital. When compared the two types of reforms (continuous versus punctual), the continuous reform will bring a more expressive gain quality of the relative product than the punctual reform. Other conclusion is that, the larger opening level economies should have a larger concern regarded to the quality of its institutions, due to the largest potentiality caused by the largest trade opening

Este trabalho visa estudar a evolução da produtividade dos bancos brasileiros ao longo dos anos de 2000 a 2014, analisando o período pré e pós 2003, quando iniciou-se a introdução de reformas institucionais que afetaram o setor bancário, dando base à sustentabilidade do crescimento do crédito na economia e fortalecendo a estrutura das operações tanto à pessoa física quanto à pessoa jurídica. O estudo é introduzido através da estimação de funções de produção e obtenção de medidas de produtividade total dos fatores (PTF) para 86 bancos individuais, empregando as técnicas de Levinsohn e Petrin (2003) e de Ackerberg, Caves e Frazer (2015) para controlar problemas de endogeneidade e colinearidade que surgem por conta da variável não observada (produtividade) e da escolha dos insumos. Os bancos foram divididos em três grupos: (i) intensivos em operações de crédito, utilizando como critério a razão de operações de crédito/total do ativo maior ou igual a 50% no período anterior às reformas; (ii) não intensivos em operações de crédito, reunindo bancos com a razão anteriormente mencionada menor que 10%, tendo como premissa que esse conjunto não é afetado diretamente pelas reformas; e (iii) os cinco maiores bancos do sistema financeiro brasileiro em relação ao ativo total. Os resultados mostram que (i) a produtividade agregada dos bancos oscilava sem direção definida no período anterior às reformas, mas mostraram um crescimento após as reformas; (ii) bancos intensivos em operações de crédito apresentaram ganho de produtividade de 7,0% a.a. após as reformas, totalizando 110,7% no período de 2004 a 2014, o que representa um crescimento bem mais expressivo que os 4,3% a.a. para os bancos não intensivos, totalizando ganho de 58,9% após as reformas; e (iii) maior realocação do produto de bancos menos produtivos para bancos mais produtivos durante a crise financeira mundial de 2008. / This paper aims to study the productivity of Brazilian banks from 2000 to 2014, analyzing the period before and after 2003, when began the introduction of institutional reforms affecting the banking sector, supporting the sustainability of credit growth in the economy and strengthening the structure of operations both to individuals as to legal entities. The study is introduced by estimating production functions and obtaining the total factor productivity (TFP) for 86 individual banks, implementing the methodology proposed by Levinsohn and Petrin (2003) and Ackerberg, Caves and Frazer (2015) to control problems of endogeneity and collinearity that arise due to the unobserved variable (productivity) and the choice of inputs. Banks were divided into three groups: (i) intensive in credit operations, using as criteria the ratio of credit operations/total assets greater than or equal to 50% in the period before the reforms; (ii) non-intensive in credit operations, bringing together banks with aforementioned ratio less than 10%, with the assumption that this group is not directly affected by the reforms; and (iii) the five largest banks in the Brazilian financial system in relation to total assets. The results show that (i) the aggregate productivity of banks fluctuated without a defined direction in the period before the reforms, but showed growth after the reforms; (ii) intensive banks in credit operations showed productivity gains of 7.0% (compound annual growth rate) after the reforms, totaling 110.7% from 2004 to 2014, which represents a much more significant growth than the 4.3% per year for non-intensive banks, totaling a gain of 58.9% after the reforms; and (iii) higher relocation of the product from less productive to more productive banks during the global financial crisis in 2008.

The aim of this study is to investigate the reasons of slow path of economic transformation in Belarus. In the first part is analyzed the general pattern of transition, characteristic for most of post-soviet countries. In the second part is described the path of transition in Belarus -- one of the least transformed countries in post-soviet region. In the study is introduced the analysis of initial conditions and first market reforms implemented on the initial stage of transition. Also, the author investigates the economic model, established in Belarus after market reforms had been suspended. In the study is discussed the possibility for continuation of economic transformation in Belarus in recent future. In order to summarize the key points of the study and draw the complex picture of Belarus in the world economy the SWOT analysis of Belarusian economy is introduced.

Yes / In light of the emerging African Union (AU) legal order, this chapter examines AU’s institutions and courts to situate AU law in the wider context of AU’s enforcement mechanisms. In the nearly two decades of the operational phase of the AU, several institutions and courts have arguably ensured enforcements of its laws, policies, and decisions. Added to its judicial, human rights, and legal organs, the African Court of Human Rights has been at the disposal of the AU in the fight against human rights abuses and implementation of regional and international instruments in environmental and criminal law matters. What could potentially be the impact of these institutions on AU law? Also, will the evolving AU law require a separate enforcement mechanism, or could it rely on pre-existing institutions and courts? These issues become necessary in view of the AU’s commitment to implement Aspiration 3 of Agenda 2063, which amongst other things, envisions respect for human rights, justice, and the rule of law within the region. The chapter argues that the challenges of weak institutions, corruption, and internal conflicts are endemic within the continent. Therefore, it takes the view that a system of normative, cultural, and cognitive institutional reforms and transformation will be valuable.

As Instituições Fiscais Independentes (ou Conselhos Fiscais - CFs) e as Regras Fiscais (RFs) são modelos de instituições que ganharam relevância teórica e política após a constatação de que os governos raramente conseguem comportar-se como planejadores centrais. Ou seja, são incapazes de conduzir a política fiscal de modo a atender o socialmente ótimo no longo prazo. Em geral, a existência de incentivos políticos distorcidos em conjunto com racionalidade limitada dos eleitores e governantes gera déficits excessivos - o chamado viés deficitário da política fiscal - os quais reduzem gradativamente o bem-estar social. A crise fiscal europeia de 2008-2009, em especial, expôs com dramaticidade inédita a profundidade desse viés deficitário na região. Diante da insuficiência dos mecanismos usuais de mercado em corrigir problema, os organismos internacionais e formuladores de política passaram a recomendar veementemente a adoção de CFs, no intuito de reforçar a aplicabilidade das RFs e realinhar os incentivos na direção da disciplina fiscal. Alguns anos após a implementação dessas instituições, estudos quantitativos buscaram avaliar o impacto de sua atuação na trajetória do resultado primário estrutural, principal medida de ativismo fiscal do governo. Os resultados mostraram-se ambíguos e sujeitos a importantes críticas quanto ao controle da endogeneidade. A presente tese busca colaborar com a literatura de reformas institucionais ao abarcar de forma ampla o problema da endogeneidade nessa questão, tanto na investigação de suas origens como no emprego de desenvolvimentos recentes da teoria econométrica para atenuar suas distorções nas estimativas. No primeiro capítulo, definimos o conceito de CF e apresentamos um panorama geral dessas instituições no mundo. Ademais, também expomos as diversas teorias, mormente no campo da economia política, que buscam justificar a presença do viés deficitário da política fiscal, bem como algumas propostas de melhorias do quadro de incentivos através de reformas institucionais, de forma e minimizar esse viés. O segundo capítulo busca investigar avaliar as condições fiscais que antecederam a grande leva de reformas que na última década deram origem aos CFs. Encontramos evidência de que a implementação do CF é precedida por um recuo de aproximadamente 2,59 p.p. do resultado primário efetivo no segundo ano anterior ao tratamento, relativamente aos países não adotantes ou ainda sem adoção no período. No ano da adoção e no anterior, essa diferença deixa de ser significante. Tais achados apontam para uma segunda fonte de endogeneidade nas mensurações da efetividade dos CFs, na qual os países fiscalmente instáveis reagiriam com mais vigor ao advento de crises nas contas públicas, inclusive com a promoção de reformas institucionais. Na literatura institucional, o tipo de endogeneidade mais comumente assinalado é o de causalidade reversa, em que, contrariamente ao tipo anterior, são os países mais austeros que tendem a exibir maior probabilidade de realização de reformas. No terceiro capítulo, a efetividade dos CFs em alterar a trajetória do resultado estrutural é avaliada por meio da metodologia do controle sintético, numa tentativa de controle mais rigoroso da endogeneidade, de nosso conhecimento inédita até então na literatura. Os resultados encontrados indicam a inexistência de um efeito significativo dos CFs sobre aquela variável, em contraste com os obtidos em avaliações anteriores. O último capítulo da tese traça considerações a respeito da Instituição Fiscal Independente (IFI) brasileira, criada em 2016, à luz de recentes avaliações empíricas sobre o novo papel dessas instituições no contexto internacional. / The Independent Fiscal Institutions (or Fiscal Councils - FCs) and Fiscal Rules (FRs) have gained theoretical and political relevance after realizing that governments rarely manage to behave as central planners. That is, they are unable to conduct fiscal policy in order to meet the socially optimal in the long run. In general, the existence of distorted political incentives coupled with the limited rationality of voters and rulers generates excessive deficits - the so-called deficit bias of fiscal policy - which gradually reduce social welfare. The European fiscal crisis of 2008-2009, in particular, dramatically exposed the depth of this deficit bias in the region. Given the inadequacy of the usual market mechanisms to correct the problem, international organizations and policy makers began to strongly recommend the adoption of FCs in order to strengthen the applicability of FRs and realign incentives in the direction of fiscal discipline. Some years after the implementation of these institutions, quantitative studies sought to evaluate the impact of their performance on the trajectory of the primary structural result, the main measure of government fiscal activism. The results were ambiguous and subject to important criticisms regarding the control of endogeneity. The present thesis seeks to collaborate with the literature on institutional reforms by comprehensively covering the problem of endogeneity in this question, both in the investigation of its origins and in the use of recent developments in econometric theory to attenuate its distortions in the estimates. In the first chapter, we define the concept of CF and present an overview of these institutions in the world. In addition, we also present the various theories, especially in the field of political economy, which seek to justify the presence of the deficit bias of fiscal policy, as well as some proposals for improvements in the incentives framework through institutional reforms, in order to minimize this bias. The second chapter seeks to investigate the fiscal conditions that preceded the great series of reforms that in the last decade gave rise to the FCs. We found evidence that the implementation of FCs is preceded by a decrease of approximately 2.59 p.p. in the primary balance in the second year prior to treatment, in relation to non adoption or non-adopters in the period. In the year of adoption and in the previous year, this difference is no longer significant. These findings point to a second source of endogeneity in the measurement of CF effectiveness, in which fiscally unstable countries would react more vigorously to the advent of public account crises, including the promotion of institutional reforms. In the institutional literature, the type of endogeneity most commonly reported is that of reverse causality, in which, contrary to the previous type, the more austere countries tend to be more likely to carry out reforms. In the third chapter, the effectiveness of CFs in altering the trajectory of the structural balance is evaluated through the methodology of the synthetic control, in an attempt to control more strictly the endogeneity problem, of our knowledge a novelty in the literature. The results indicate that there is no significant effect of FCs on that variable, in contrast to those obtained in previous evaluations. The last chapter of the thesis outlines considerations regarding the Brazilian Independent Fiscal Institution (IFI), created in 2016, in the light of recent empirical assessments of the new role of these institutions in the international context.

As Instituições Fiscais Independentes (ou Conselhos Fiscais - CFs) e as Regras Fiscais (RFs) são modelos de instituições que ganharam relevância teórica e política após a constatação de que os governos raramente conseguem comportar-se como planejadores centrais. Ou seja, são incapazes de conduzir a política fiscal de modo a atender o socialmente ótimo no longo prazo. Em geral, a existência de incentivos políticos distorcidos em conjunto com racionalidade limitada dos eleitores e governantes gera déficits excessivos - o chamado viés deficitário da política fiscal - os quais reduzem gradativamente o bem-estar social. A crise fiscal europeia de 2008-2009, em especial, expôs com dramaticidade inédita a profundidade desse viés deficitário na região. Diante da insuficiência dos mecanismos usuais de mercado em corrigir problema, os organismos internacionais e formuladores de política passaram a recomendar veementemente a adoção de CFs, no intuito de reforçar a aplicabilidade das RFs e realinhar os incentivos na direção da disciplina fiscal. Alguns anos após a implementação dessas instituições, estudos quantitativos buscaram avaliar o impacto de sua atuação na trajetória do resultado primário estrutural, principal medida de ativismo fiscal do governo. Os resultados mostraram-se ambíguos e sujeitos a importantes críticas quanto ao controle da endogeneidade. A presente tese busca colaborar com a literatura de reformas institucionais ao abarcar de forma ampla o problema da endogeneidade nessa questão, tanto na investigação de suas origens como no emprego de desenvolvimentos recentes da teoria econométrica para atenuar suas distorções nas estimativas. No primeiro capítulo, definimos o conceito de CF e apresentamos um panorama geral dessas instituições no mundo. Ademais, também expomos as diversas teorias, mormente no campo da economia política, que buscam justificar a presença do viés deficitário da política fiscal, bem como algumas propostas de melhorias do quadro de incentivos através de reformas institucionais, de forma e minimizar esse viés. O segundo capítulo busca investigar avaliar as condições fiscais que antecederam a grande leva de reformas que na última década deram origem aos CFs. Encontramos evidência de que a implementação do CF é precedida por um recuo de aproximadamente 2,59 p.p. do resultado primário efetivo no segundo ano anterior ao tratamento, relativamente aos países não adotantes ou ainda sem adoção no período. No ano da adoção e no anterior, essa diferença deixa de ser significante. Tais achados apontam para uma segunda fonte de endogeneidade nas mensurações da efetividade dos CFs, na qual os países fiscalmente instáveis reagiriam com mais vigor ao advento de crises nas contas públicas, inclusive com a promoção de reformas institucionais. Na literatura institucional, o tipo de endogeneidade mais comumente assinalado é o de causalidade reversa, em que, contrariamente ao tipo anterior, são os países mais austeros que tendem a exibir maior probabilidade de realização de reformas. No terceiro capítulo, a efetividade dos CFs em alterar a trajetória do resultado estrutural é avaliada por meio da metodologia do controle sintético, numa tentativa de controle mais rigoroso da endogeneidade, de nosso conhecimento inédita até então na literatura. Os resultados encontrados indicam a inexistência de um efeito significativo dos CFs sobre aquela variável, em contraste com os obtidos em avaliações anteriores. O último capítulo da tese traça considerações a respeito da Instituição Fiscal Independente (IFI) brasileira, criada em 2016, à luz de recentes avaliações empíricas sobre o novo papel dessas instituições no contexto internacional. / The Independent Fiscal Institutions (or Fiscal Councils - FCs) and Fiscal Rules (FRs) have gained theoretical and political relevance after realizing that governments rarely manage to behave as central planners. That is, they are unable to conduct fiscal policy in order to meet the socially optimal in the long run. In general, the existence of distorted political incentives coupled with the limited rationality of voters and rulers generates excessive deficits - the so-called deficit bias of fiscal policy - which gradually reduce social welfare. The European fiscal crisis of 2008-2009, in particular, dramatically exposed the depth of this deficit bias in the region. Given the inadequacy of the usual market mechanisms to correct the problem, international organizations and policy makers began to strongly recommend the adoption of FCs in order to strengthen the applicability of FRs and realign incentives in the direction of fiscal discipline. Some years after the implementation of these institutions, quantitative studies sought to evaluate the impact of their performance on the trajectory of the primary structural result, the main measure of government fiscal activism. The results were ambiguous and subject to important criticisms regarding the control of endogeneity. The present thesis seeks to collaborate with the literature on institutional reforms by comprehensively covering the problem of endogeneity in this question, both in the investigation of its origins and in the use of recent developments in econometric theory to attenuate its distortions in the estimates. In the first chapter, we define the concept of CF and present an overview of these institutions in the world. In addition, we also present the various theories, especially in the field of political economy, which seek to justify the presence of the deficit bias of fiscal policy, as well as some proposals for improvements in the incentives framework through institutional reforms, in order to minimize this bias. The second chapter seeks to investigate the fiscal conditions that preceded the great series of reforms that in the last decade gave rise to the FCs. We found evidence that the implementation of FCs is preceded by a decrease of approximately 2.59 p.p. in the primary balance in the second year prior to treatment, in relation to non adoption or non-adopters in the period. In the year of adoption and in the previous year, this difference is no longer significant. These findings point to a second source of endogeneity in the measurement of CF effectiveness, in which fiscally unstable countries would react more vigorously to the advent of public account crises, including the promotion of institutional reforms. In the institutional literature, the type of endogeneity most commonly reported is that of reverse causality, in which, contrary to the previous type, the more austere countries tend to be more likely to carry out reforms. In the third chapter, the effectiveness of CFs in altering the trajectory of the structural balance is evaluated through the methodology of the synthetic control, in an attempt to control more strictly the endogeneity problem, of our knowledge a novelty in the literature. The results indicate that there is no significant effect of FCs on that variable, in contrast to those obtained in previous evaluations. The last chapter of the thesis outlines considerations regarding the Brazilian Independent Fiscal Institution (IFI), created in 2016, in the light of recent empirical assessments of the new role of these institutions in the international context.