Policy or Circumstances? A Synthetic Control Method for Evaluating Brazil’s Economic Boom Under Lula

This study empirically examines whether Brazil’s remarkable economic growth from 2003 to 2010 was primarily driven by Lula’s policies or favorable global economic conditions using the Synthetic Control Method—a robust causal inference technique for assessing policy effects when randomized controlled...

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Main Authors: Jaeho Jung, Kisu Kwon
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-07-01
Series:Economies
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7099/13/7/197
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author Jaeho Jung
Kisu Kwon
author_facet Jaeho Jung
Kisu Kwon
author_sort Jaeho Jung
collection DOAJ
description This study empirically examines whether Brazil’s remarkable economic growth from 2003 to 2010 was primarily driven by Lula’s policies or favorable global economic conditions using the Synthetic Control Method—a robust causal inference technique for assessing policy effects when randomized controlled trials are infeasible and only one treated unit exists. Our analysis suggests that Brazil’s economic performance was largely attributable to external circumstances, while the policies of Lula’s administration may not have significantly enhanced growth. This study demonstrates the robustness of the results through leave-one-out distribution, the ratio of postintervention-period root mean square prediction error (RMSPE) to preintervention-period RMSPE, and in-space placebo tests.
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spelling doaj-art-895f44ff93de4e0bbfa3288184e227cf2025-08-20T03:07:57ZengMDPI AGEconomies2227-70992025-07-0113719710.3390/economies13070197Policy or Circumstances? A Synthetic Control Method for Evaluating Brazil’s Economic Boom Under LulaJaeho Jung0Kisu Kwon1Economic Research Department, Korea Enterprises Federation, Seoul 04110, Republic of KoreaDepartment of Portuguese, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Seoul 02450, Republic of KoreaThis study empirically examines whether Brazil’s remarkable economic growth from 2003 to 2010 was primarily driven by Lula’s policies or favorable global economic conditions using the Synthetic Control Method—a robust causal inference technique for assessing policy effects when randomized controlled trials are infeasible and only one treated unit exists. Our analysis suggests that Brazil’s economic performance was largely attributable to external circumstances, while the policies of Lula’s administration may not have significantly enhanced growth. This study demonstrates the robustness of the results through leave-one-out distribution, the ratio of postintervention-period root mean square prediction error (RMSPE) to preintervention-period RMSPE, and in-space placebo tests.https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7099/13/7/197counterfactual analysispolicy evaluationLatin Americagrowth determinant
spellingShingle Jaeho Jung
Kisu Kwon
Policy or Circumstances? A Synthetic Control Method for Evaluating Brazil’s Economic Boom Under Lula
Economies
counterfactual analysis
policy evaluation
Latin America
growth determinant
title Policy or Circumstances? A Synthetic Control Method for Evaluating Brazil’s Economic Boom Under Lula
title_full Policy or Circumstances? A Synthetic Control Method for Evaluating Brazil’s Economic Boom Under Lula
title_fullStr Policy or Circumstances? A Synthetic Control Method for Evaluating Brazil’s Economic Boom Under Lula
title_full_unstemmed Policy or Circumstances? A Synthetic Control Method for Evaluating Brazil’s Economic Boom Under Lula
title_short Policy or Circumstances? A Synthetic Control Method for Evaluating Brazil’s Economic Boom Under Lula
title_sort policy or circumstances a synthetic control method for evaluating brazil s economic boom under lula
topic counterfactual analysis
policy evaluation
Latin America
growth determinant
url https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7099/13/7/197
work_keys_str_mv AT jaehojung policyorcircumstancesasyntheticcontrolmethodforevaluatingbrazilseconomicboomunderlula
AT kisukwon policyorcircumstancesasyntheticcontrolmethodforevaluatingbrazilseconomicboomunderlula