Experiments with input-output analysis at the regional and local level

This paper uses input-output analysis to study some aspects of of growth pole theory with special reference to the role of a propulsive firm in the development process of a growth pole in the State of Minas Gerais (Brazil). The empirical results of three simple linear models related to a very detailed input-output table built for that growth pole are analysed. In its first part, the results of a comparison between the production structures of the State and those of the country are also shown to emphasize once more that we should be very careful in using national technical coefficients when studying the economies of areas in a country with large regional growth disparities.The research for this article was made possible by means of a Ford Foundation grant to Cedeplar. The author wishes to thank Jacques Schwartzman, Márcio Olympio Guimarães and Arthur Silvers for reading the first draft of this paper and Haydn Pimenta for his help with the English version of this text.