O que, quanto, quando e onde? Localização e especialização da força de trabalho brasileira (2001-2021)

Abstract

This research focuses on the 21st century Brazilian economy. The research problem centers on regional inequalities. The objective was to analyze the spatial distribution of formal employment across the country’s 510 Immediate Geographic Regions (RGIs), innovative geographical division based on the Brazilian urban network. Employment data were disaggregated into 25 productive fields. The methodology combines five regional analysis indicators with a literature review. Results were examined both from the perspective of sectors and of the regions. A set of 21 regions that experienced significant productive restructuring was selected for a deeper analysis, allowing the identification of key actors and the contextual factors driving local transformations. The analyses were linked to theoretical debates, such as the deconcentration of the São Paulo metropolitan area, the emergence of a new industrial reconcentration within a defined polygonal axis, spatial competition, structural ruptures, theories of location, specialization, and regional development. The findings reveal the persistence of employment concentration in major economic hubs in the Southeast and South, despite modest deconcentration trends, alongside specialized growth in peripheral regions.