This study aims to assess the impact of the labor and tax regulations on the internal (gross formation of fixed capital) and external investment (direct foreign investment inward flow). Therefore, empirical evidences for the impacts of the labor and tax legislation on the investments and business strategies in Brazil were collected. Studies in this field are justified by the relevant effect of the regulation on the agents economic activities, since, despite the economic, social, and political reasons are used to justify the regulation, an empirical evidence is seldom applied as a basis or justification for the regulation (ALMEIDA; CARNEIRO, 2005). Focusing on Brazil is significant as it is one of the world’s most regulated countries in the labor and tax scope, with low enforcement (BOTERO et al., 2004), the strictness of such legislations may interfere in the companies’ poor performance and investments as well as in the country’s economic growth. In order to investigate the labor and tax regulation impact on the national and international investments, tests were applied under the Quantile Regression (QR) method. For comparative analysis purposes, the tests were also made under the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) method. This is a cross-country study based on pooled cross-section data from 180 countries, gathered from 2003 to 2006 concerning the labor regulation and within the period from 2005 to 2006 concerning the tax regulation. The data with regard to the variables and the national and international investments (dependant variables), as well as the GDP, total inhabitants, and interests rate (control variables), are provided by the World Development Indicators updated in 2008. The results found suggest that the higher the labor regulation strictness, the lower the investment level regarding gross formation of fixed capital and direct foreign investment in Brazil. With regard to the effect of the tax regulation on investments, the results demonstrate that they are statistically relevant and that a reduction in the tax load, measured by the taxation over the business profit, could raise the investment level.
Labor and tax regulation; Investments in Brazil; World Bank; GDP; Economic performance
