REVUE D ECONOMIE POLITIQUE, cilt.124, sa.4, ss.599-612, 2014 (SSCI)
WTO, OECD with many others, suggest the trade in value-added would be a "better" measure than gross value to understand, the impact of trade on employment, growth, production etc. We use in this work an Input-Output table for 2008, to calculate the value-added exported by Brazilian states. We distinguish the value-added exported directly by the state itself or indirectly via other states. Then, we define the extent of vertical specialization among Brazilian states by using value-added indirectly exported. We calculate equally the import content in states' exports. If the share of import content in Brazilian exports is low, we show evidence that inter-state,trade is quite high across some Brazilian states. Inter-state vertical specialization then operates at upstream stages of the value chain before the good be exported to foreign countries. However the value-added of a state; indirectly exported by another state is quite balanced by the value-added of its own exports which is imported from other states, then the export shares of each state in total Brazilian exports in value-added-terms or in gross terms are close.