RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Brazilian elite is among the world’s least value-generating to society.
In a ranking headed by Singapore, Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States and Scandinavian countries, Brazil trails behind countries such as Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Russia, India and Botswana.
With the exception of China, the BRICS countries are ranked lowest. Among them, the only one behind Brazil is South Africa. Degression and distortions of the tax system and the lack of incentive to competition are among the factors that stand against Brazilians.
Based on 72 indicators that describe value creation, researchers Tomas Casas and Guido Cozzi from St. Gallen University in Switzerland listed 32 countries to compare the quality of their elites.
High quality elites implement value-creating business models, i.e. they give more to society than they receive. On the other hand, low-quality elites do the opposite and operate value extracting models.
The researchers published a preview of the ranking in September, which should be released annually henceforth, beginning in January 2021.
The study notes that, in a feral way, the elites dominate political economies, providing the required coordination capacity for human, financial or knowledge-based resources. To sustain their position, elites thus manage business models that accumulate wealth.
In Brazil’s case, researchers point out that the country has made progress since restoring democracy in 1985, particularly by recovering and maintaining control over inflation. “However, faith now needs to be restored in the government, with the country’s score below average in all index areas,” the economists say.
To catch up with its BRICS peers and guarantee a robust, long-term growth path, Brazil needs to promote a transition of its elites to value-creating business models, while providing favorable conditions for business and entrepreneurship in the economy, according to the report.