In this study, we document the decline in income inequality and a convergence in consumption patterns in Brazilian states in a new database constructed from micro data from the national households’ survey. We adjust the state-Gini coefficients for spatial price differences using information on households’ rental prices available in the survey. In a panel regression framework, we find that labor income growth, formalization, and schooling contributed to the decline in inequality during 2004-14, but redistributive policies, such as Bolsa Família, have also played a positive role. Going forward, it will be important to phase out untargeted subsidies, such as public spending on tertiary education, and contain growth of public sector wages, to improve budgetary efficiency and protect gains in equality.

Published in 1999. The liberalization process in Latin America during the 1990s resulted in the increase and diversification of trade in the region. Brazil, as a major player, strengthened its insertion into the world economy through the adoption of strategies for opening up markets and of new production technologies; complemented more recently by the creation of a broadly based stabilization plan. In this context, issues related to structural changes in the economy, such as those involving the complexity of new international trading agreements and their impact on the Brazilian economy, warrant special attention. The results of this study suggest that the interplay of market forces in the Brazilian economy favour the more developed region of the country.

This book presents multidisciplinary analyses of the historical trajectories of social and economic inequalities in Brazil over the last 50 years. As one of the most unequal countries in the world, Brazil has always been an important case study for scholars interested in inequality research, but in the last few decades has brought a new phenomenon to renew researchers’ interest in the country. While the majority of democracies in the developed world have witnessed an increase in income inequality from the 1970s on, Brazil has followed the opposite path, registering a significant reduction of income inequality over the last 30 years. Bringing together studies carried out by experts from different areas, such as economists, sociologists, demographers and political scientists, this volume presents insights based on rigorous analyses of statistical data in an effort to explain the long term changes in social and economic inequalities in Brazil. The book adopts a multidisciplinary approach, analyzing the relations between income inequality and different dimensions of social life, such as education, health, political participation, public policies, demographics and labor market. All of this makes Paths of Inequality in Brazil – A Half-Century of Change a very valuable resource for social scientists interested in inequality research in general, and especially for sociologists, political scientists and economists interested in the social and economic changes that Brazil went through over the last two decades.

In the past 20 years the Brazilian economy has experienced substantial growth. However, the nature of this growth and the growth process itself have been controversial, with many critics contending that poverty and human misery have increased. Others extol the virtures of this Brazilian model of growth, pointing to the human benefits accompanying the growth process. An analysis of data from the 1980 demographic census attempts to shed light on this debate. A descriptive examination of various measures of poverty is undertaken with comparisons made between 1970 and 1980. Computations are also made of Gini coefficients, Theil indices, and income deciles. This analysis produces some rather far reaching results and conclusions. Despite persistant poverty, during the 1970s substantial progress in reducing poverty and improving living standards occurred. There is some evidence of overall increased income concentration, growing inequality could not be fully discerned by our measures. In addition, reductions in income inequality among regions and among sectors were observed. The agricultural sector in particular was characterized by rapidly growing average incomes, despite growing income inequality within it.

Abstract: This paper addresses the potential effects of the Doha round of trade negotiations on poverty and income distribution in Brazil, using an applied general equilibrium (AGE) and micro-simulation model of Brazil tailored for income distribution and poverty analysis. Of particular importance is the fact that the representative household hypothesis is replaced by a detailed representation of households. The model distinguishes 10 different labor types and has 270 different household expenditure patterns. Income can originate from 41 different production activities (which produce 52 commodities), located in 27 different regions in the country. The AGE model communicates to a micro-simulation model that has 112,055 Brazilian households and 263,938 adults. Poverty and income distribution indices are computed over the entire sample of households and persons, before and after the policy shocks. Model results show that even important trade policy shocks, such as those applied in this study, do not generate dramatic changes in the structure of poverty and income distribution in the Brazilian economy. The simulated effects on poverty and income distribution are positive, but rather small. The benefits are concentrated in the poorest households.