The most economically complex regions first? A map of Brazil's green
economy.
Green Economy. Green Products. Economic Complexity. Productspace.
Brazil.
In the presence of environmental constraints, it is essential to develop
products and technologies that reduce the environmental pressures caused by current patterns
of production and consumption. This paper’s objectives are to map sustainable paths of
economic development, by quantifying green productive possibilities in Brazilian federative
units, and to analyse the regional differences between Brazilian states. To achieve these, we
used the Economic Complexity approach combined with the OECD list of environmental
products and a panel data model. The results indicate the existence of significant regional
differences in Brazil. Basically, the Brazilian states that have the capacity to carry out the green
transition are in the South and Southeast regions. In the short term, due to significant regional
differences in terms of economic complexity, workers' skills and economies of scale, states in the Midwest, Northeast and North regions are unlikely to reduce the gap between their most advanced technological structure and green products to achieve the green transition.