Efficiency in conversion of productive resources in sustainable development: the case of Brazil among the brics

Abstract

The social and environmental impacts caused by the economic growth of nations have caused growing concern in society. The multidimensional concept of sustainable development has been demanding that the performance of nations analysis considering, besides the economic aspect, the social and environmental in an integrated way. The aim of this paper is to present and discuss the scores of economic, environmental and social efficiencies of Brazil and the position of this country in the efficiency’s ranking of BRICS in the period from the year 2001 until 2007. Data envelopment analysis (DEA) was used to calculate the efficiency of the countries in the three pillars of sustainability and, consequently, draw up the ranking of efficiency of the group's member countries. It was observed that Brazil had positive results, since it was the most efficient in the economic and social applications, and obtained second place in environmental applications. These results may indicate that Brazil is adopting a more humane mode of production, with simultaneous increase of the income distribution and environmental care, which can be summarized by the term sustainable development.