THE SOCIOECONOMIC IMPACTS OF THE SUGARCANE INDUSTRY IN THE CENTER-SOUTH REGION OF BRAZIL

Abstract

The role of sugarcane ethanol in the generation of renewable energy in Brazil has brought an intense debate about the evolution of the sugarcane industry in the country and its impacts. In this sense, this paper aims to measure the impacts of this sector on the Human Development Indicators used in this study of the municipalities of the central-southern region of Brazil, for the period of greatest expansion of the segment, from 2005 to 2011. For this, the econometric tools of panel data analysis and quantile regression were used. The results indicate that there is a positive relationship between the sugarcane industry in the studied region and the Human Development Index, and that the municipalities with low development indices present a greater response to the presence of sugarcane industry for the index.