Welfare and household expenditures in Brazil: a semiparametric analysis using panel data

• Grant number: 16/17566-5
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: December 01, 2016
• End date: November 30, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Economics - Social Welfare Economics
• Principal Investigator: Alexandre Nunes de Almeida
• Grantee: Alexandre Nunes de Almeida
• Host Institution: Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The goal of this research is to analyze the changes in the consumption patterns of households in Brazil over time using semiparametric models. It is a fact that the share of food expenditures, particularly in low-income families, has a substantial weight in their total budget. It is also well know that Engel's law suggests that with increasing income, the share of the household budget spent with food decreases. To find out what is the real format of the Engel curve format in the household in Brazil is the main research question of this work. Moreover, analyzes of the impact of public policies, both those directly focused on poverty reduction (Bolsa Família, for example), as the sectoral character (reduction in the prices of food, for example) in most empirical studies have been conducted using full parametric specifications. The use of nonparametric or semiparametric models allows letting the data speak about themselves regarding what would be the impact of consumption shares in the household budgets. This paper proposes the estimation of these regressions using data from a pseudo-panel approach using household budget surveys of IBGE for the years 1987/88, 1995/96, 2002/03 and 2008/09. The period will make it possible to evaluate the consequences of high inflation initially, opening of the economy, consequent expansion of the spectrum of goods available, price stability, the decline in food prices, the reduction of income inequality, and social programs implemented in the Brazil. (AU)