ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

guidance, motivation and for allowing, since my first semester at Universidade Católica Portuguesa, a closer contact with economics I have grown to love. He is a professor I admire and a professional I take as an example. I was extraordinarily fortunate in having his as my teacher. I am grateful to my teachers and colleagues at Católica for providing a stimulating environment in which I could learn and grow as a person and professional. I especially thank Pedro Raposo for patiently helping me to overcome the drama about the empirical model, and all his valuable insights about Stata. I wish to thank my beloved group of friends known as, and especially to Marco and Elsa, for always helping me get through the difficult times, and for all funny moments. I also thank Vanda for helping me with the final details in my thesis. Finally, and most importantly, I would like to thank my family for their unconditional love and support throughout my entire life, specially my mother that did not measure efforts to make it come true. I wish to thank my boyfriend, Jefferson, for all his support, understanding and strength to move on and not give up. iii The evolution of savings in Brazil since 1960: the role of real interest rate